The Brother I Don't Know
by nebula2
Summary: movie-verse complete Alan Tracy loves all of his brothers despite the teasing, but there is one brother he really doesn't know. Now Alan is to spend some time on Thunderbird 5 with John and he's not sure what to expect. Will the two get along or will i
1. Failing Classes

Alan's POV:

"Alan Tracy, I want to see you," Mr. Mathews called out as the bell rang ending the end of math class.

I groaned. I knew what was coming as I had already had a very similar conversation with my history teacher the period before.

As my classmates filed out I sat in my desk, waiting for everyone to leave before making my way toMr. Mathew's desk.

"I'll wait for you in the hallway," Fermat told me as he walked by.

As I nodded, I silently added the 'again' to that statement myself. Sometimes I wondered how Fermat and I could be such good friends. We were like night and day in everything.

As Fermat followed the rest of their classmates out of the classroom, I put the math book in my back pack and slung the pack over my right shoulder. I then slowly mademy way to the front of the classroom. I might as well get the lecture over with.

"Yes Mr. Mathews?" I said as I approached the desk.

"Mr. Tracy, I must say that I'm very concerned with the results of the last few tests not to mention that you haven't turned in quite a few assignments. Is there something going on at home that you want to talk about."

"No," I told him looking down at the floor. Truth was that I had been thinking a lot about starting my training for International Rescue. School work was the last thing on my mind since Fermat and I had returned to school after becoming members of IR after our adventure with the Hood. I couldn't tell my teachers that though.

"Something at school then. One of your classmates giving you a hard time?"

"No sir," I said again.

"Well something is going on with you Alan. Granted, your grades have never been completely up to their potential in this class but you've never been failing the class altogether. That's where you stand at right now Mr. Tracy. If you don't do well, and I'm talking 90 or better, on the final then you won't pass this class."

I kept my mouth shut. I had never scored higher than an 80 on a math test before. This was not looking good.

I wasn't sure what to say. I knew my grades weren't stellar but I honestly hadn't realized that I was in danger of failing any of my classes. I knew Dad was not going to be happy about it.

"I've also talked to your other teachers, and we have all noticed a drop in your grades not to mention that you are failing two other classes besides this one."

Which meant I had to listen to another lecture from yet another teacher. I tried to think of what the third class was that I was failing. It was probably English or Science.

"Now, I have never been a fan of a week break for the kids to prepare for the finals but in this case I believe it can be beneficial for you. It will give you some extra time to catch up. I've prepared some extra review assignments for you. Perhaps you can get your friend Fermat to help you with it if you need help."

"Yes sir," I told him.

"You may go Alan," Mr. Mathews told me.

I nodded and slowly walked toward the door. This day was not going well at all. This was our last day of classes before going home for our week break and it seemed to be dragging on. I knew it wasn't going to get much better.

"What's that?" Fermat asked me as I came out of the classroom.

"Extra review material," I muttered as I kept walking toward the cafeteria.

"Alan," Fermat said hurrying to catch up to me. "Are you . . ."

"Yes Fermat, I'm failing another class. Apparently I'm failing a third class too so I get to go through the lecture a third time this afternoon."

And probably a fourth and fifth time, I added to myself. I was sure I would have to see the headmaster before I left for home tomorrow afternoon and then there was Dad. I knew he would have a nice long lecture for me when I got home. And the lecture wasn't the only thing he would have in store for me.

Dad had said he would start my IR training during this break. With how things are I could definitely see him postponing it. And if I failed any classes I could just see my Dad sending me to summer school.

"Well if you would a-a-apply yourself to your school work a l-l-l-ittle more instead of daydreaming . . ."

"Thanks for the support Fermat," I told him cutting him off. My tone was a little sharper than I meant it to be.

"S-s-sorry," he whispered.

"No, I'm the one that should be sorry," I told him with a sigh. "You're right. I only have myself to blame for this. Its just that school is so boring."

"But it is necessary," Fermat told me even though I knew he didn't share my opinion on school being boring. Fermat loved books and learning things. He was just like his Dad. Unfortunately he was right. I hated it that he always seemed to be right.

"I know but that doesn't mean I have to like it," I muttered as I joined the end of the lunch line.

* * *

Dad was quiet, and that wasn't a good sign. I could tell by the look on his face that he was not happy. The fact that Fermat was with us was probably the only thing keeping him from giving me a lecture right now. 

As I expected, the headmaster had requested my presence in his office after classes today. And also as I expected, Dad was there waiting for me too. What I wasn't expecting was the presence of Mrs. Madison, my science teacher. That had clued me in to what the third class was that I was failing.

The meeting hadn't gone well. I had said as little as possible knowing that opening my mouth would probably just get me in more trouble at this point. Dad hadn't been happy to hear about math and history but he was really unhappy when he heard what Mrs. Madison had to say.

Science, which happened to be astronomy this semester, I was not only failing but my grade was so low that even if I scored a hundred on the final I could only earn a sixty-five in the class which Wharton Academy still considered as failing and no credit would be earned for the class.

The headmaster and Mrs. Madison did offer me a chance to pass the class though. For starters I had to do an extra credit report which was do when I returned to school. The second stipulation was that I score an A on the final and prove that I understood the material. Summer school was starting to look inevitable.

When we reached Tracy Island, Dad got out of the boat and headed toward the house. He still didn't say anything. I wasn't sure if that meant he wanted me to follow him or not.

"Dad?" I asked questionly. I was actually looking forward to a lecture. Anything would be better than this silence.

"We'll talk later Alan," my Dad replied without even looking back over his shoulder.

"That's n-n-not a good sign," Fermat said softly beside me.

"You're telling me," I replied.

Without another word the two of us started walking up the dock and toward the house ourselves. Halfway up the stairs leading to the lowest patio level I heard splashing and laughter. Seems my three brothers were enjoying themselves, which meant I had to walk by them in order to get to the house.

The thought of not going inside and staying out on the beach crossed my mind. However, that would only postpone things. I was going to have to face my brothers at some point and when I did the teasing would begin. If they found out that I was flunking three classes, which they probably would at some point, they would have a field day with that.

I kept walking though. What I really wanted to do was go to my room and in order to do that I had to get pass Scott, Virgil, and Gordon.

"What did you do this time Alan?" Scott called out, from the pool.

"Who said I did anything," I shot back trying to feign innocence.

"Yeah, right. I haven't seen him that mad since you blew up your school," Scott replied not buying the act at all.

"Wharton Academy is still standing right?" Gordon asked.

"Yes the school is still standing," I told him. I could feel myself getting angry and I knew my brothers could see that which would only encourage them.

"Well, we can never know with you Alan," Virgil said as he walked back toward the pool with an inflatable beach ball that he had gotten out to retrieve. "You always seem to be able to mess things up."

"I'm not even taking chemistry at Wharton Academy."

"Yeah, because they don't trust you with chemicals after what happened at the Churchill School for Boys," Gordon chimed in.

"But Alan, I'm sure you don't need chemicals to do damage to the school," Scott said.

"Yeah, there is always cooking class. I'm sure you could manage to burn down the school or something trying to bake a cake," Gordon piped in.

"He wouldn't even have to be cooking," Virgil said tossing the ball into Scott from the edge of the pool. "He would probably decide he could make the stove more efficient and blow it up in the process."

That was it. I wasn't just going to stand there and take it from them anymore. I dropped my two bags and rushed towards Virgil, shoving him into the pool.

"Ooohhh, temper, temper," Scott said as Virgil's head broke the surface and he wiped the water out of his face.

I was ready to jump in after him too, despite the fact that Scott could easily overpower me, when I felt a hand touch my arm. I looked back to see Fermat standing there with my bags plus his.

"Alan, let's just go," he said softly.

I knew it was the best thing to do. I could never win against my brothers, especially not with all three of them against me. Without saying a word I took my bags from Fermat and headed for the steps leading up to the house.

"Bye girls," I heard Scott call out as we walked away. Before long I heard laughter as they returned to their game.

* * *

Jeff's POV: 

"I don't know where I went wrong with him," I said in frustration to John over the communications link with Thunderbird 5. Scott might have been the first born but there were times when John seemed much older than Scott. It seemed like in the past few years, that I had started going to John more and more when I needed to work something out.

Scott was my right hand when it came to field operations for International Rescue. He was a natural leader and he took that responsibility seriously. However, Scott was a man of action. He didn't always stop and think things through which in some instances could be a good thing when a split second decision had to be made.

John on the other hand, although perfectly capable of making leadership decision, was more than content to let others take the lead. That never stopped him from speaking up when he thought something was wrong or that somebody wasn't considering something. He was the diplomat of the group. The level headed one. The listener. It was all of those qualities that made him a good person to talk things out with.

"You didn't go wrong with him Dad. Alan's a good kid," John told me and not for the first time. John was always reminding me of that fact.

"I know that but sometimes its hard to remember that," I told him thinking about some of the things that had happened in the past that had gotten Alan kicked out of quite a few private schools.

"Trouble just seems to follow him kind of like it did Mom," John said.

I had to smile at that. He had a point. Meg always meant well but things never seemed to turn out quite the way she had planned. Alan had that trait.

"Besides Dad he won't be the first of us who failed a couple of classes," John said.

"John, failing public speaking and failing three classes and barely passing the rest is completely different," I told him. That class had been a nightmare for John. He hated being in front of large groups and it had taken him three attempts to pass the class and fulfill the requirement the school had and even then he just passed. I think part of it was his teacher knew how hard it was for him and just finally passed him. "Sometimes I think that Alan doesn't even try."

"I wasn't exactly thinking about me," John told me. "I was thinking more along the lines of Scott. I remember you use to have to sit there and watch him do his homework or he wouldn't do it and Scott turned out okay. School just isn't for everyone.

"I can understand how IR can be alluring to a boy Alan's age but he needs to at least get through high school. The rest of you did and I don't expect any less from Alan."

"I"m not saying you should but sometimes I think Alan thinks you expect him to live up to the high standards that Virgil and Gordon set. He's closer in age to those two and when it comes to school they set some pretty high standards."

I nodded. John had a point. Virgil was valedictorian and Student Council President. Gordon had been more or less an A student with a few B's here and there. He had also been a soccer and track star in school. I guess that could be a little overwhelming for Alan.

"All I want is for him to get through high school," I said. "And I intend to do everything I can to make sure he does just that. I've got no choice but to tell him I'm not starting his training this week. He needs to concentrate on his schoolwork."

"That isn't going to go over well."

"You don't think I know that."

"Dad send Alan up here for the week."

"What?" I asked a little surprised by the suggestion.

"Alan's going to have to spend some time up here learning about Thunderbird 5 at some point, why not now? There will be less distractions up here. I can help him with his school work. Show him some of the stuff I'm working on up here in my free time which might help him write that report he needs to write."

"I can't ask you to take on that responsibility, John."

"You're not, I'm volunteering."

"I don't know . . ."

"Come on Dad, I want to help. Besides it will give me a chance to spend some time with Alan."

It made sense. Alan could do some training, which I knew he would be happy about and there was less distractions up on Thunderbird 5 compared to the island. And Alan didn't see much of John, between him being away from school and John spending so much time on Thunderbird 5. Maybe the time with his older brother with do Alan good. I knew the other three teased him endlessly.

"Okay, I'll send him up tomorrow morning. Don't expect him to be thrilled about the idea though."

"What's new. None of my brothers like being up here," John said with a smile. "I'll talk to you tomorrow Dad."

"Okay, son," I said with a soft chuckle. He had a point. Scott, Virgil, and Gordon all hated being up on Thunderbird 5 even though they all took their turns. "Later John."

I closed the link as I heard a knock on the door to my office.

"Come in," I called out.

"Dinner is ready, Dad," Scott said sticking his head inside.

"Okay," I told him standing up and walking toward the door. I'd wait until after dinner to break the news to Alan.


	2. Sentencing

A/N: I know its been awhile since I've updated this. What can I say my thunderbirds muse went on strike. I had to force it to let me right this short update as it was. I'm hoping maybe when I get the movie and DVD and can watch it again that it might help out. Anyway, I wanted to give you all at least some kind of update as this is the most reviews I've ever gotten on one chapter on a story so thank-you all for your feed back.

Devlinn Reiko-samma - I guess three months isn't exactly soon is it. I'm really glad you liked the first chapter and hope you enjoy this chapter too.

Andrewjameswilliams - I'm going completely off the movie with these characters as I never was a fan of the puppet tv show. Hope the wait hasn't made you lose interest in this story.

Bograt - thanks for the review. As long as I still have readers out there I hope the next chapter won't take me as long.

Fiona12690- hope you're still interested in reading more. Sorry about the wait.

Killhill2003 - thanks for the review and compliment.

AngelMouse5 - I'm glad you liked the story idea. I wasn't sure how the concept would go over. And I'm glad you liked the title. I only saw the movie once and he's not in it much but I fell in love with John's character. What can I say, I tend to like the overlooked characters in tv shows and movies.

Penelope Hudson - Well there's a second chapter now but that's as far as it goes. Hopefully the third chapter wants to come out of my head and onto the computer screen a little easier than this chapter did.

QueenofElvenCity - thanks for the review. As for Scott failing a class, what can I say I had to make him seem a little more human. He came off as too perfect and too cocky for my taste in the movie.

Miz Greenleaf - glad you liked the last chapter and thanks for the review.

Lady Elizabeth-Jayne - sorry this is only a short chapter but I figured a short update is better than no date. Thanks for the review so long after the story was posted. It finally spurred me to sit down and work on this story ( I just had to wait for classes to end and I wasn't so stressed out to tackle this story).

* * *

Alan's POV:

As I walked out of the house and down to the pool I could still hear my father's voice in my head. His words echoed through my mind.

"_Alan, I can't begin to put into words how disappointed I am in you. I've never asked anything more of you than to do your best and I know you can pass these classes. I know that you are capable of graduating from high school. That's all I'm asking of you. I want you to graduate high school, even if that means you graduate with straight C's. What you chose to do after that is your choice."_

His voice had been even when he had said those words. No yelling. Somehow that disturbed me more. I was use to the loud lectures. This I wasn't use to though. I could tell that this was more than just anger at some stupid mistake I had made. I had really let him down this time and I felt bad about that. Sure, I griped about my father at times and I wouldn't say we had the best father-son relationship but no matter what I knew my father loved me and I wanted him to be proud of me. I knew that even now my father still loved me but he sure wasn't proud of me.

"_You can still pass those three classes with a little bit of hard work, which your teachers and I all know you're capable of. That means completing that extra report, and studying for your finals. Making sure you know the material."_

"_There are too many distractions here on the island. I don't think you'd get much of anything accomplish here. That's why I'm sending you up to Thunderbird 5 to spend the week with John. If you need help with your school work he'll be able to help you and you can also start your training. Your going to have to spend some time up there at some point and this seems as good a time as ever."_

I couldn't believe it. My father was sending me away. Being with John was like going to see a complete stranger. I barely knew him. I had been hoping that when the time came to learn about Thunderbird 5 my Dad would do it while Scott or maybe himself was up there. Most of the time when I was home John wasn't and then even when we were both here I barely talked to him. John wasn't like my other brothers. He kept to himself more.

It was kind of ironic that of all my brothers, John was the one that scared me. Maybe because I was never quite sure where I stood with him. Scott, Virgil, and Gordon always teased me. I knew they thought I was a joke. The screw-up of the family. I wasn't sure what John thought of me and I wasn't sure I wanted to know. Like Dad's disappointment rather than anger, John's silence was worse than my other brothers' teasing.

I had reached the pool by now . I sat down on the edge and dangled my bare feet into the cool water. This was definitely not how I had planned on spending my break from school. He hadn't said so but I knew if I failed any of my classes, summer school was a very real possibility.

"There you are," I heard Tin-tin's soft voice say. I hadn't even heard her footsteps but then I guess with Tin-tin that was to expected. "You've been awfully quiet tonight Alan."

"I'm failing three of my classes."

"And could you have done better?" she asked me as she sat down on the edge of the pool and put her own feet into the pool.

I nodded. I knew I could've done better. All those assignments that I hadn't turned in hadn't gotten done because I was busy day dreaming. The same thing with studying. Instead of studying for a test I had tended to have a book in front of me but in my mind I was out with Dad or one of my brothers on some great adventure.

"Well what's going to be done about it."

"Theoretically, I still have a chance of passing the classes," I told her. My teachers words came to me. A's on the finals. I couldn't remember the last time I had ever scored anything higher than a B on a final and even though were rare. The more I thought about it the more inevitable summer school seemed.

"Alan, if you don't think you can do it then you've already failed," she told me. "You need to have some confidence in your self. Like when you went up against the Hood to save your family. Fermat and I kept doubting that we'd actually be able to save them but you never gave up. You kept trying."

"That was different," I told her.

"Yes and no. Anything that you set your mind to Alan you can accomplish. You've just got to want it bad enough."

I looked at her. She might have been the same age as me but at times like these she seemed so much older.

"My Dad's sending me away. He's sending me to Thunderbird 5 for the week. Less distractions he said."

"Your father is only doing what he think is best for you Alan. Besides at least up there you won't have to worry about your brothers teasing you."

"I guess," I said absently. I didn't know how to tell her that facing John scared me more than facing my other three brothers ever could. Yes those three would have a field day with me when they found out I was failing three classes but I knew what to expect from them.

Not to mention Thunderbird 5 was the last place I wanted to be. This was where all the action was. That was one thing I had to agree with Dad on, there were a lot of distractions here on Tracy Island. There was always something going on and that was where I wanted to be. Right in the middle of everything not stuck up in space on a station with someone I didn't know.

But there was no way I was going to tell anyone, not even Tin-tin, how I felt about John. They would probably take it the wrong way. Think it meant I didn't love and that simply wasn't true. I loved him as much as I loved my other brothers. I knew that from when the Hood had attacked Thunderbird 5. I had wanted to go with them. Had hated being left behind although in the end it had been a good thing that I had been.

I felt Tin-tin put my arm around my shoulders. I liked the feeling. I liked having her with me. When I was around her I felt like I had someone, who despite all the mistakes I had made in my life, believed in me.

I'm not sure how long we sat there before she broke the silence again.

"Want me to help you pack?" she asked me.

I nodded. I could keep putting off but I knew it wouldn't change anything. My Dad's mind was made up. If I wasn't ready to leave in the morning the only thing it would accomplish is getting Dad mad. I figured I had already done enough of that for right now.


	3. Going up

Devlinn Reiko-sama - glad you liked the update and that you don't think Alan being afraid of John is a little to farfetched. I was wondering if people would go along with that or not. Thanks for the review.

bograt - glad to hear you're enjoying the story. Is this soon enough for you?

AngelMouse 5 - again I'm glad to see people can see where I'm coming from with my portrayal of the John/Alan relationship. I'm glad you liked the second chapter as I wasn't too sure about it. Its one of those tranisition chapters that needs to be in there to move the story to the next point but your not really sure how to write it if you know what I mean. This next chapter was much easier to write.

Lauren - I think the T-bird muse is back (at least for this story as I still don't know what to do about the other one). Hope you keep reading and reviewing. The reviews inspire me.

Iadc- I'm glad I caught your attention. I have to say I do kind of like Alan in the movie but John, even though he was kind of overlooked, was hands down my favorite. The one I didn't like is Scott. He seemed to perfect which I'm kind of fixing in my own way. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Marblez - well I got Alan to the station. Alan and John interaction will be coming up in the fourth chapter.

Arashi no Baka - thanks for the review. It means a lot to me. Please keep reading and reviewing.

Opal girl - thanks for the review. Again I'm glad people are accepting the John/Alan relationship I created.

andrewjameswilliams - you're the only one that commented about the Tin-tin/Alan conversation which actually surprised me. I'm glad at least I know someone liked that part.

A/N: To everyone, thanks for the reviews and consider this chapter my gift to you for being such wonderful reviewers. To anyone who celebrates Christamas - Merry Christmas.

Alan's POV:

I woke up the next morning in a good mood because I was in my own room. I was at home. Not at some boarding school miles away from my family. However, then I remembered where it was I was going this morning and the good mood faded.

I thought I was going to be spending the week at home but instead I was going to be sent away again. Sent to spend a week with John, in outer space. I might as well still be at Wilson Academy. I knew my classmates better than I did John anyway.

I heard a knock on my door and then Virgil's voice.

"Alan, Dad says to get down to the breakfast table. He wants to leave soon."

"I'll be right down," I called back throwing the blankets back and swinging my legs over the side of the bed.

I knew there was no point in stalling. Dad had sent Virgil this time but the next time it would be him and he wouldn't be knocking on the door neither. Instead, he would just be coming into the room and telling me to get a move on.

I went to my closet and pulled out some clothes to change into. I quickly through them on, grabbed my backpack from the desk and the duffel bag Tin-tin had helped me pack the night before and headed downstairs.

I dropped my bags by the wall at the bottom of the stairs and headed into the kitchen. The rest of my family was already there.

"There's the convicted felon now," Scott said as I walked into the kitchen. I ignored the comment and walked over to where Onaha was standing at the stove preparing a plate for me. I took it from her as Gordon joined in on the teasing.

"Yeah, he must have done something really bad this time to get sentenced to a week on Thunderbird 5. That's doing hard time."

"He probably snuck a girl into the school and was making out with her in the headmaster's office," Virgil said in a fake whisper to Scott and Gordon. The three of them laughed although no one else in the room did.

Before I could make any remarks though my father spoke up.

"That's enough," he told my three brothers firmly. "John's due to come down when Alan comes back from school after finals, and I want to get him familiar with Thunderbird 5 as soon as possible," Jeff told them. Alan was glad his father hadn't told him the real reason. I knew all they would do was tease him.

"Why not just wait until the personnel transfer, Dad," Scott said getting serious. "I'm going up next. I could show Alan around Thunderbird 5."

"I don't think so," Jeff said. "If you remember I let you try to train Virgil and the first time he was up there alone everything went wrong and John had to go back up and get things straightened out."

It was my turn to laugh. I saw Scott and Virgil looked down at the table. I sat down at the table but refrained from sending an insulting remark in my brother's direction. The other three had just been scolded for teasing him and I knew it wouldn't go over well with my father. Somehow it was enough to know that even Mr. Perfect over there could make mistakes.

"No, I definitely want John showing Alan Thunderbird 5. He knows that station better than any of us," my Dad said which told me that whether it was this week or some other time I would've been spending time on the space station with John. I was glad I hadn't brought that subject up with my Dad.

My father and brothers started talking about IR business then. Usually I enjoyed listening to them talk. It made me feel like a part of everything in a way. This morning though I tuned them out. It didn't matter. In a few hours I would be in space completely out of the loop again anyways.

I finished eating breakfast and took my plate over to the sink.

"You ready to go Alan?" my father asked as I rinsed the plate off. I just nodded. I wasn't really but I knew I never would be. I'd almost rather go back to school than be going up to Thunderbird 5. "Then let's go," he said standing up from the table.

I followed him out of kitchen, picking my two bags up from the floor where I had left him. Gordon stood up from the table and followed us out. I guess that meant he was coming with us, which made sense as he was the primary pilot for Thunderbird 3. Although it could be done, even Dad didn't often try to fly Thunderbird 3 solo. I should've figured Gordon would be tagging along.

When we got to the Thunderbird 3 silo Dad had a surprised for me. He had a flight suit waiting for me. I almost smiled. I had been waiting for years to have a IR uniform of my own. Under any other circumstances I would have been elated. Instead Scott's comment, "there's the convicted felon now", came to mind and the uniform almost seemed like a prison uniform. Maybe this really was a prison sentence. With the exception of John, I knew all my brothers hated when it was there turn to man the space station.

"You know, I'm not sure who to feel more sorry for," Gordon said as he climbed into the pilot's seat of Thunderbird 3, "you or John."

"Shut up Gordon," I snapped as I climbed into one of the other seats. I had been inside Thunderbird 3 before but this was the first time I would actually be in it when it went into space. As for Thunderbird 5, all I had ever scene of it was schematics and computer images of it.

"You two cool it," I heard my Dad said as he came into cockpit and took the co-pilot's seat. "If you can't be civil to one another then don't talk to one another."

"Yes sir," Gordon said. "Sorry Alan," Gordon said apologizing even though Dad hadn't told him to. When he was away from Virgil and Scott I almost liked Gordon. However, I wasn't about to go apologizing myself. I was still mad at the whole situation and Gordon was a part of it.

I just didn't say anything.

In fact, I didn't say a whole word the entire way up to Thunderbird 5. I just sat there in the seat staring out through the viewport trying to ignore the slight nauseous feeling I had. I just hoped I didn't throw-up. That would just be one more thing my brothers could tease me about and they had plenty of ammunition.

"There she is," I heard my father say. I knew he was making the comment for me even without him saying my name.

I looked from the side window and out the front viewport. I felt my breath catch. Thunderbird 5 was impressive. I never realized just how big the space station really was. I refrained from saying anything, not wanting to show even a mild interest in what was going on. Still, I kept my eyes locked on the station as we approached it. How many kids my age could say they had been in space, let alone actually set foot on a space station? Unfortunately, with the exception of Fermat and Tin-tin there would be nobody I could share this experience with.

I listened to my father and Gordon as the commenced with docking procedures. I hadn't thought about what it would be like to dock Thunderbird 3 with Thunderbird 5, but as I saw the concentration and precision with which Gordon completed the maneuver it suddenly dawned on me how important it was that everything thing go the way it was suppose to. A small miscalculation could be disastrous for either our craft or the space station itself.

"_Yeah, keep Alan away from the ships. He's a hazzard."_

Those had been Scott's words when I had come home from spring break. Maybe he had a point. I did have a tendency to mess things up and I was starting to see that with the Thunderbirds there wasn't much room for mistakes.

"Docking complete," Gordon said from his seat.

"Gordon, why don't you stay here," my father told him as the two of us moved to get out of our seats. "I just want to talk to John for a few minutes and then we'll head home."

"Okay Dad," Gordon replied. "Have fun, Alan," Gordon told me. I didn't miss the sarcastic edge to his voice. The one that told me he was clearly glad it was me having to stay up here and not him.

I got out of my seat and made my way to the hold where my bags were stored. I grabbed them quickly and exited the rocket. As I stepped from the docking tunnel onto Thunderbird 5 I was again overwhelmed by the size of the place. The corridors were wide which made it seem like it was enormous. Suddenly the nauseous feeling got worse. Maybe it wasn't from the space flight like I had first thought. Maybe the nauseous feeling was being caused by something else.

"Dad is this really necessary?" I asked him. "Let me go back to the island. I promise I'll concentrate on my school work. We can wait until summer vacation to start my training," I told him.

My father gave me a disbelieving look. To tell you the truth I couldn't even believe I had just said that. I had yearned for the past three years to be able to start training and now that it was about to begin I was scared. I was looking for a way out.

"Alan what's wrong?" my father asked me. I looked up at him. I didn't see the normal look in his face that he wore when looking at me. There was no scolding look, or look of dissapointment There was only concern.

"I don't want to do this," I admitted to him.

"Being part of the team is going to mean taking your turn up here Alan. John shoulders the biggest part of the responsibility but even he needs a break from time to time."

"I know that and that isn't what I meant," I said. I could see the questioning look in my Dad's eyes and I knew I had to explain what I meant to him. I had started this conversation and there was no backing out now. "It's just that when it came to train up here I was hoping you would do it yourself," I told him.

"John knows Thunderbird 5 the best. He's the best one to train you."

"But its like being here with a complete stranger," I said. I was going to say more but then I saw John coming down the corridor. I couldn't help but wonder if he had heard that last comment.

"He's your brother, Alan," my Dad replied not yet noticing John's approach.

Had my brother heard me call him a stranger? Suddenly the nauseous feeling became overwhelming. I knew I was going to be sick soon. As my father and brother hugged I recalled the schematics of Thunderbird 5 I had studied back at home, I dropped my bags on the floor and headed for the bathroom.


	4. What's the point of Thunderbird 5?

Devlinn Reiko-sama - Thanks for the continuous feedback. Hope you keep enjoying this story.

andrewjameswilliams - Glad you liked the last chapter and thanks for the support.

Iadc - Glad to hear you finally saw the movie. I've watched it a couple of times this past week! Glad to hear you like Jon just as much as me. Also thanks for the review on Painful Memory. I actually have a plan for at least one more chpater but I'm kind of stuck right now (chapter 13 has a little over a page written). Hopefully my writer's block on that chapter will go away soon.

Queenof the Elven City - I thought Mr. Perfect fit Scott perfectly so I just had to use it! And thanks for the wonderful compliment!!!!

thunderbirdgirl -Glad to hear you're enjoying the story.

bograt - here's another update for you. Glad you liked the part with Alan feeling ill. I thought it was a nice touchmyself and i'm glad someone else liked it too.

Fiona12690 -I read and reviewed a couple of your stories.I enjoyed them (okay well the second one wasn't finished so I would've enjoyed it more with an ending - hint hint). Hope you keep enjoying this story.

kitkat Tictac - Thanks for reading and reviewing my story. Its nice to knowpeople are enjoying it.

PsychoSpiff01 - Thanks for letting me know you're reading the story and I'm glad you liked the idea. Hope you keep enjoying the story.

John's POV:

"But its like being here with a complete stranger," I heard Alan tell our father. I knew he was referring to me before my Dad even had a chance to reply.

"He's your brother, Alan," my father told him.

"Hi Dad," I said casually as I joined them in the corridor trying to be casual about it. I was positive that Alan's words had not been intended for my ears. As far as I was concerned I hadn't heard anything not that it really mattered. There were plenty of times that I felt like a stranger to my family. I couldn't blame Alan for feeling that way toward me.

"Hello, John," my father said putting his arms around me in an embrace. As much as I enjoyed the time I spent alone up here I had to admit there were times when I got lonely. I was thankful that my family is a very open family. Whenever I saw my father or brothers after being a part for awhile we always hugged. It was a nice thing to come home to especially after weeks of being in space with just me and the computers.

As we hugged I was aware of Alan dropping his bags and running off. I had thought he looked a little green as I had walked down the corridor. He definitely wasn't the first Tracy to get space sickness although I had a feeling that nerves probably wasn't helping that situation any.

"Are you sure you want to do this John?" I heard my father ask as I pulled away from him.

"Now more than ever Dad," I told him. I knew my father knew what I meant by that comment. Knew that I had overheard the exchange between him and Alan.

"Okay," he said nodding. "But if things get too out of hand . . ." he started to say and then let his voice trail off.

"We'll be fine Dad. How much trouble can a fifteen year old get into on a space station?" I asked him.

"I don't know. He did blow up a school though," my father said.

"Believe me I'm not going to give him the chance," I told him shaking my head. Poor Alan was never going to live that one down. "He'll be fine Dad."

"Its not him I'm worried about," my father said looking at me. I could see the concern in his eyes. I knew my father loved all of us but I also knew he was a little more protective of me. Maybe it was because I was the least outgoing of all of us. Or the fact that growing up I had always been trying to break up the fights between my brothers. Even Alan, who I hardly saw since taking over Thunderbird 5, I tried to protect from my brother's teasing when I could. Or maybe it was because after Mom's death I was the one he started to confide in. I knew the things he told me via comm late a night he didn't always tell Scott, or Virgil, or Gordon. Exactly what it was I didn't know and I would never ask him that.

"This will be good for the both of us," I told him trying to reassure him. It was a reassurance that I didn't really feel myself. I remembered how moody I had been as a teenager, not to mention Virgil and Gordon, and I knew from conversations with my Dad that Alan was no better. In fact Alan, was a lot like Scott. Being only two years younger than Scott I remembered all the trouble Scott got into when he was Alan's age. Did I really have the patience to deal with him.

"Do you want me to check on him before I leave,' he asked me nodding in the direction Alan had disappeared.

"That won't be necessary," I told him. "I can handle it," hoping once again I was pulling off a confidence that I sure didn't feel inside.

"Okay then," my Dad replied. "Seriously though John, if you need help don't hesitate to call," he told me walking back into the docking tunnel.

"I won't," I said as he disappeared into Thunderbird 3.

As the door cycled shut behind him I picked up Alan's bags. I took the bags to the sleeping quarters of the station and put them onto one of the bunks. Then I went looking for Alan.

As I thought I found him in the bathroom. He was just standing up from kneeling over the toilet.

'At least he looks a little less green', I thought to myself as I grabbed a washcloth from the nearby cabinet, wet it and handed it to him.

"Feeling any better?" I asked him as he took the wash cloth from me.

"Yeah, a little," Alan told me. I could here an edge of distrust in his voice. It was almost like he was waiting for me to say something else. "What no wise crack?" he finally asked me.

"I'm not like that Alan," I told him knowing now where he was coming from and he was right. The other three would have been teasing him despite the fact that with the exception of Virgil, everyone of us had been sick the first time up here. "Being in space for the first time is disorienting but you get use to it. And the nerves don't help any."

"Nerves. Whose nervous," Alan said his normal cocky attitude coming back. The attitude I knew he had to have learned from Scott. I just smiled. I remembered what it was like to be that age.

"Let me show you around," I told him walking out of the bathroom and back down the corridor. Alan followed me without another word.

Alan's POV:

I laid in bed that night staring up at the ceiling. I could hear John's slow even breathing across the room from me. I wished I could fall asleep that easily.

Instead, I was awake with my thoughts. For starters, the station was too quiet. Even on the island the nocturnal animals kept the place from getting too quiet. Then there was also the problem of the stream of thoughts going through my head. All the work I had to do for school, all the things John had told me on his tour of the station. I had no clue how he, or any of the others for that matter, kept everything straight and I had thought the other Thunderbirds were complicated. Still, despite all the computers and monitoring equipment there was nothing going on up here.

No wonder Scott, Virgil and Gordon all hated it up here. If I thought I was left out of the action down on Tracy island, I was even more removed up here. The only reason I could even think of that John would like it up here is because of his experiments. Although I wasn't about to say admit it to him, his experiments actually interested me. John had suggested that I use one of them for the science paper I had to write. I had just nodded feigning disinterest. Part of me was still waiting for him to start teasing me about the fact that I was failing classes and science at that.

"_I'm not like that Alan."_

I don't know why but those were the words that kept echoing in my mind. I guess I was just so use to getting teased by my older brothers that I thought of that as normal. The fact that John hadn't said one teasing remark yet seemed weird. Maybe Gordon was right. Maybe John really didn't have a sense of humor.

Even a week up here was going to drive me crazy. Dad was definitely right about less distractions up here. I was starting to wonder what the point was of having the space station even was. To me it just seemed like a waste of resources.

All of a sudden I heard a klaxon go off. As I sat up in bed, John was already out of his bed and heading for the door to the room. I had lived of Tracy island long enough to know that now was not the time to start asking questions. Still I threw the blanket back and headed toward the control room. I at least wanted to know what was going on.

"Mayday. Repeat, this is the _Titanic 2, _we're taking on water. We are abandoning the ship but the seas are getting rougher. We require immediate assistance. Does anyone read me," came the panicked voice over the computer.

"_Titanic 2, _I copy," John said into the transmitter. "This is International Rescue. I'm dispatching help to your location now."

"Thank-you International rescue," came the very relieved sounding answer as I heard the beep that signaled an incoming call from Tracy Island.

"John what's going on?" my father asked as John closed one channel and opened the channel to the island.

"We've got a cruise ship, the _Titanic 2_, going down in the Carribean, in the Bermuda Triangle to be exact," John told him. "The ship is located about two hundred fifty miles north-northwest of the eye of Hurricane Alex."

"Is the storm still moving west?" I heard my father ask.

I saw John quickly glance at a monitor before answering.

"Negative Dad. Hurricane Alex is now moving north-north west at eight miles an hour. Right for the cruise ship."

"F.A.B. John. We're on our way. Keep an eye on the storm for us and notify the coast guard. We're going to need help with the evacuation."

"F.A.B.," John replied as Dad's face disappeared from the screen.

As John got a hold of the coast guard I inched forward. I wanted to see what was going on without getting in the way. As I looked past John at the screens and panels in front of him I couldn't figure out how he could make sense of it all. It just seemed like a jumble of non-sense to me. I looked to the one screen that I could remember what it did from when John was going over things right after I arrived. It was the screen that monitored the other Thunderbirds when they were in the air.

As I watched a blue and then green dot appeared on the screen representing Thunderbird 1 and Thunderbird 2 respectively. A separate system was needed so the Thunderbirds could be monitored even with the anti-detection shields activated.

"I've got the ship in sight," came Scott's voice over the comm system a little while later. "The aft of the ship is halfway submerged and we have multiple life boats already in the water," he reported.

"FAB Scott, we're right behind you," I heard my Dad say.

Once again I was watching a mission unfold and how I wanted to be a part of it. This time though I was seeing more than any news broadcast could show. This definitely opened my eyes even more to what my father and brothers did and I was starting to see how important the station was as John kept an eye on everything and relayed vital information to them.

I don't know how long I was lost in my own thoughts when Scott's voice pulled me out of it.

"Thunderbird 1 to Thunderbird 2, I have to pull out. I'm losing power in one of the engines," there was a pause before he said, "Thunderbird 2 do you copy."

There was no answer. I found myself looking at the screen wanting to make sure that Thunderbird 2 was still in the air. I saw the green dot and wondered why Dad hadn't replied to Scott's radio call.

"Dad can you hear me?" came Scott's voice again as I could see Thunderbird 1 going away from the rescue area on the monitor as by this time the Thunderbirds could be picked up by conventional radar. I could also hear an edge of panic in it which scared me even more. Scott always had an air of confidence about him no matter what.

"Thunderbird 5 to Thunderbird 1, I copy." John said until the radio.

"Thank-god some one can hear me."

"Can you make it back to base?"

"I hope so," came Scott's less than confident voice.

"Thunderbird 1 what's going on?" I heard my father's voice ask over the radio. He must have notice Thunderbird 1's retreat. "Scott can you hear me. John do you have radio contact with Thunderbird 1?"

"FAB dad. Thunderbird one is experiences engine difficulties and is returning to base."

"FAB. Keep me apprised of the situation."

Before John could reply to Dad's last order a call came in from Scott.

"Mayday! I've lost engine power! I'm going down!"

"Scott," John called into the radio but didn't get another reply. "Thunderbird 2, I just got a distress call from Thunderbird 1. Dad Scott just went down."

I could feel the lump forming in my throat. Had I just lost a brother?


	5. Life Line

AN: Thanks to all of you who have reviewed. You guys have been so supportive (and this story now seems to be writing itself right now) that I couldn't leave everyone hanging long. I've got somewhere to go though so I won't be able to thank everyone individual but I do appreciate the reviews. Please keep them coming!

Jeff's POV:

This rescue was not going well. The high winds and rough seas made it difficult to rescue the people on the lifeboats. The coast guard was evacuating the rest of the cruise ship. Not to mention the radio difficulties we were having with Thunderbird 1. I was just thankful that John could read us both and hoped that Scott could get the rocket back to base without any other complications.

A high gust of wind rocked the rocket. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Gordon's hands fly over the controls trying to stabilize.

"Virgil are you okay?" I asked him.

"FAB Dad. Tell Gordon though that if he can't fly this thing then he gets to come down here next time," Virgil replied trying to ease some of the tension with the comment.

"Sorry," Gordon said.

"Thunderbird 2," came John's voice over the radio. I could tell something was wrong by the urgency in his voice. "I just got a distress call from Thunderbird 1. Dad Scott just went down."

"Copy that," I replied as I exchanged a look with Gordon. I could see the same worry on his face that I felt inside. "Virgil, we need to get those people aboard as quickly as possibly," I said keying the mike to talk to my middle son. "We have another rescue, Thunderbird 1 just went down."

"FAB Dad," Virgil replied.

As worried as I was about my son, I knew that the civilians came first. Until all the victims from the ship were safe we couldn't do anything about Thunderbird 1. We all knew the risks but that didn't make it any easier.

"John do you still have radio contact with Scott?" I asked into the radio. I waited for a reply that didn't come. "John?" I said again growing a little concerned. Hopefully his silence just meant that he was talking with Scott.

"I got this group on board, Dad," Virgil informed me.

"Acknowledged," I said switching focus to the task at hand. I scanned the area for any other lifeboats from the ship. I spotted one more not far away. "Gordon,"

"I see them Dad," he said before I could finish what I was saying. "Changing course to intercept."

"We've got one more lifeboat in the water Virgil."

"FAB."

"Thunderbird 5 to Thunderbird 2," came John's voice.

"Thunderbird 5, I copy. What's going John."

"Thunderbird 1 went down about one hundred miles east of the rescue area. The rocket is on the surface and not taking on water at this time."

"FAB. Tell Scott to sit tight and we'll be there as soon as we can," I replied. If he was east of here that meant that Hurricane Alex was moving away from him which was a good thing.

"FAB."

"Come on boys, lets get the rest of these passengers on board and then onto that coast guard ship. Your brother is waiting on us," I told Virgil and Gordon. This was one rescue mission that I would be glad to have over. I just hoped nothing else went wrong.

Alan's POV:

"Hey John you still there?" I heard Scott's voice come over the radio.

"I'm stuck on a space station Scott, we're am I going to go," John said lightly in reply to Scott's question.

"Good point. Somebody is coming for me right John."

"Yes Scott, as soon as the passengers are all safe Dad and them will be there. Just hang on."

"Easy for you to say. You're not the one sitting in a tiny cockpit surrounding by angry seas."

Even I could hear the panic in his voice. I tried to put myself in his shoes and I couldn't do it. I couldn't imagine being stranded at sea alone. I had heard my Dad say before that we had to put the civilians first but the reality of those words was just sinking in now.

"John I think I'm taking on water," Scott said in a panicked voice.

"Scott you're fine. I still show hull integrity of Thunderbird 1 at 100."

"Then where is this water dripping from."

"It's probably just what's being splashed up on top of the cockpit. You're fine Scott just relax." I heard John tell him calmly. "Hey did you see that game last night. I told you the Red Sox were going to do good this year."

"They just got lucky. You don't know anything about baseball John."

"Who's team is undefeated so far, know it all," John countered.

I didn't know how he could do it. How could he have such a casual conversation during all of this. And all the while he was talking to Scott he was still keeping an eye on everything else that was going on.

If I was John I don't think I would have been able to stay so calm. I'd probably be freaking out like Scott.

After tonight, I knew I would never again think that Thunderbird 5 wasn't necessary. I had seen first hand the importance of it. Would Dad even know that Thunderbird 1 had went down if not for the station? Not to mention that without Thunderbird 5 there was no way to monitor the storm they were fighting against.

Did I really have what it took to be a Thunderbird? What if I screwed up? Who would pay for my mistakes?

Suddenly I had a need to be alone. Without a word I left the control room and headed back to the relative safety of my bed.

John's POV:

I heard Alan's retreating footsteps. I glanced over my shoulder to see him disappear down the corridor. I knew something was up with him but I couldn't go after him. Not right now. Like Scott had to wait for rescue, Alan was just going to have to wait himself. That was the hardest thing about International Rescue, when you were forced to put strangers in front of your own family.

I returned my gaze to the monitors in front of me. I scanned the area again trying to make sure no one was missing anything. The coast guard only had their ships in the area. The search and rescue helicopters had been forced to return to base already due to the high winds. Still, the coast guard had gotten the rest of the people off of the cruise ship and one of its boats was heading back toward base. The second boat was still north of the sinking ship waiting for Thunderbird 2 to finish the rescuing of the people in the lifeboat.

That was when I noticed another life boat in the water. It was north-west of the sinking ship and about ten miles out already. It must have been one of the first ones in the water.

"Thunderbird 5 to Thunderbird 2, there is another life boat in the water. Its about ten miles north-west of the _Titanic 2._"

"FAB, Thunderbird 5. We've almost have the people from this life boat onboard."

"Thunderbird 2, this is the Coast Guard cutter _Tampa Bay, _we're moving to intercept the last life boat."

"Copy that _Tampa Bay,_" Dad responded. "John is that the last of the life boats then."

I made another scan of the area just to be sure. I didn't want to be the responsible for leaving anyone stranded at sea.

"Yeah, that would be all of them."

"How's Scott doing?"

"He's hanging in there," I told Dad trying not to let on how worried I was about him. I had never seen my older brother anything but cocky, calm and collected or angry. The panic I was hearing in his voice was something completely new to me. Currently I could hear him ranting on about the baseball game last night and how the Yankees had gotten gypped the night before. I usual tried avoiding discussions about baseball with my older brother but in this case it was serving as a good distraction.

Scott's POV:

"Any body could tell that Molson should have been safe. The ump was clearly blind," I told John trying to ignore the angry seas that surrounded me. Whose idea had it been to make the cockpit of Thunderbird 1 completely transparent anyway? I could've done with seeing a little less of my surroundings right about now.

"Kent clearly had the ball in his glove before Molson touched home plate. Face it Scott, the Red Sox beat the Yankees last night fair and square."

"Their first win in what, a year," I shot back.

"So they had an off season last year."

"And the year before that?" I asked. The Red Sox hadn't had a decent season in the last five years. I don't know why my brother kept rooting for them.

I felt a few more drops of water drip down from above me. I looked up to see a wave crash over top of the rocket. As a result more water dripped down.

Just how water tight had Brains and Dad designed this thing anyway? Its not as if they had designed the rocket to make water landings. Did they even consider the possibility of a crash landing at sea. Of course it didn't really matter now if they had or not as I had crashed the thing at sea.

"Hey John, how much longer?" I asked.

"Shouldn't be much longer now Scott," came John's reassuring voice. I had to admit that I was glad it was John up in Thunderbird 5 talking to me. As much as I loved Virgil and Gordon I knew those two wouldn't have been acting as calm as John was right now and he was the only thing keeping me from completely losing it. With Gordon I might have even been the one trying to calm him down and calm was the last thing I felt right about now.

"Of all the places to crash this thing, leave it to me to pick the Bermuda Triangle," I said to myself or so I thought. I must have said it out loud though.

"So much for your perfect flight record," John commented lightly.

"Yeah, I guess you're the only Tracy that can say they have a perfect flight record now John. Which means the rest of us are never going to hear the end of it."

"I'm not the only one. There's still Alan."

"Alan can't even fly a remote plane without wrecking it. I don't give him long before he crashes one of the Thunderbirds."

"Give the kid a break Scott," John told me.

"You always did stick up for him John. I don't know why. The two of you are like night and day."

"Of course we are. He takes after you after all and who was it that defended you to Dad when you would come in way after curfew," John told me.

"Okay so I wasn't the model kid growing up," I told him. Truth was I had gotten into as much trouble as Alan had although I hadn't blown up a school. The worse thing I had done was total my Dad's Corvette which I shouldn't have had in the first place. "So much for the big brother looking out for the younger one huh."

I might have been two years older than John but there were plenty of times where that hadn't been apparent. John had always been quiet and mature beyond his years. When our mother had died John had been the one that held our family together which was something no twelve year old should have to do. He was the one that we would all turn to when we needed help. The only trouble he had ever gotten into had been something Gordon, Virgil, or myself had dragged him into or when he had been trying to keep Dad from finding out about something one of us had done.

"You were a great big brother Scott," I heard John tell me. "I would've gotten beat up a lot more in school if you hadn't been there for me. Billy Wharton comes to mind."

"Yeah, well nobody gets to pick on one of my brothers unless they're family," I said glad I was alone as I could feel my cheeks growing warm.

Billy Wharton had been one of John's classmates when he had started high school. I was in my junior year at the same school and one night John had shown up at my dorm room with a black eye. Once I found out that Billy had done it, Billy had ended up in the ER with a broken nose. He never did tell anyone who was responsible for breaking his nose nor did he bother John again after that.

"Hey Scott, you'll be glad to know Thundebird 2 is heading your way. They'll be there shortly."

"Great. Even that ugly green will look good to me just about now," I told him.

"Yeah and if you had your way all the Thunderbirds would be different shades of blue." John commented.

"Blue is a great color," I replied. "Although we can't touch the color of Thunderbird 5."

"Do I even want to know why?" John ventured.

"Well, the station is more or less yours and the gold fits it perfectly. You are Dad's "golden boy" after all."

"Cute Scott, real cute," I heard him say. I could also tell he was trying not to laugh. Golden boy had been a nickname I had thrown out in frustration during one of Dad's lecture. I couldn't even remember what it was that he was lecturing us about but I remembered Dad scolding me for dragging John into whatever it was. The term golden boy had slipped out without me even thinking and little to say it hadn't gone over well with Dad. However, it had remained an inside joke for me and John over the years. I just made sure Dad was never around when I said it.

The thing about John though, was that it was just his nature. He wanted to make those around him happy. He was never trying to out do anyone and he wasn't perfect. He made mistakes just like the rest of us and he was the first one to take responsibility for those mistakes. He just tended to think things through a little more and had a big heart. It was impossible to stay mad at him long. I know, as I had tried plenty of times but it never worked. I think my record was three hours before I was apologizing and that was only because it took us an hour to find him after he had run off.

I heard a low rumble around me. My first thought was that there was a hull breach and water was rushing in. As I looked up though I saw the ugly green of Thunderbird 2. I had never been so relieved to see that bulky green rocket.

"Looks like the calvary has arrived," I said out loud.


	6. Alan Unleashed

AN: I thought this story needed a little tension breaker and I think this chapter does that nicely.

megacharized - glad you're enjoying the story. As for which Tracy brother is the oldest I'm basing my knowledge off of the movie, the book on the making of the movie, and the website for the movie. Now the book and the website couldn't agree on whether Scott or John was older so I picked one. If the tv show was something different I wouldn't know because I haven't really watched any of the tv shows. Hope you keep reading though and thanks for the review.

Devlinn Reiko-sama -I just had to give these characters a little more depth than the movie does and I'm glad you like my choices. Thanks for the review.

ladc - I take it you're not a Yankees fan then, lol! Glad you enjoyed the John and Scott scene anyways.

Fiona12690 - now I can't say I love alan but I do have to say I'm starting to like his character more now that I'm writing this. As for alan you'll get to see what he's up to in this chapter as its from his POV. Enjoy!

andrewjameswilliams - thanks for the review. I thought the last chapter might have had too many prospcective changes so I'm glad to hear that you liked that part of the chapter.

dragon 426 - nothing iswrong with the color green, I'm just not a fan of that particular shade of green on something that big. Of course I'm not sure Thunderbrid 2 could look all that great in any color, lol! happy to hear you like the story.

AngelMouse5 - Again thanks for commenting on the POV aspect of this story. I know sometimes when you change perspectives it can get confusing and I'm glad to hear I'm not doing that. As for anything that resembles the tv show I'm just getting lucky as I haven't seen much of the puppet version of the Thunderbirds (and what I did see I was busy making fun of it during). What can I say - I'm a child of the eighties.

ctymose - and we have a Red Sox fan - glad I made someone happy! I don't really follow baseball but a friend of mine really likes the Yankees and my mom's family is up near Boston so that's why I chose those two teams. Thanks for reviewing and as for "Painful Memory" as soon as I figure out how to write chapter 13 there will be a continuation.

PyschoSpiff01 - glad to hear that! Don't want to go losing my reviewers now!

bograt - John's the best! Glad to see I'm winning you over more and more, lol!Thanks for reviewing

Alan's POV:

"Alan are you awake?" I heard John ask softly when he finally made his way from the control room.

Even though I was, I didn't answer him. I didn't want to talk to him. I knew Scott had to be okay or he wouldn't have been asking me if I was awake nor would he have been so calm.

Assuming I was asleep, I heard John quietly make his way across the room to his own bed. Before long I could once again hear his slow even breathing. How could he fall asleep so easily after something like that?

I wasn't sure I wanted to be a part of this anymore. If one of my brothers ever got hurt or worse because of some mistake that I had made I knew I would never be able to live with myself. Scott was right. I was a hazzard.

After all the grief I had put my Dad through though how could I tell him I no longer wanted to be a Thunderbird. I knew he wouldn't accept it without an explanation and I knew I couldn't tell him the truth. I knew he would be disappointed in me once again. Of course maybe if I gave John a hard enough time he would tell Dad that I wasn't ready. Then I could get out of it without having to explain anything to Dad.

It sounded like the perfect idea. I ended up falling asleep thinking about ways to get on John's nerves.

I didn't sleep long and I managed to wake up before John. I looked at my watch. It was only six in the morning which meant I had only slept about two hours as it had been just before four when John had come in.

I threw the blanket back and slipped out of bed. I headed for the bathroom and took a quick shower. After drying off and getting back into my uniform, I set up the first stage to my operation.

Next I grabbed my school books and cd player that brought up with me and headed toward the kitchen area of Thunderbird 5. I sat my cd player on the small table and sat down in one of the chairs. I then turned the cd player on and turned the volume up. Heavy metal came screaming out of the speakers. I didn't particularly care for it myself but I knew my brothers hated it especially John. That in itself made heavy metal enjoyable.

I quickly grabbed a school book and opened it absently. As I thought it wasn't long before I saw John come into the kitchen out of the corner of my eye. I kept pretending that I was engrossed in my book.

"What are you doing, Alan?" John asked talking loudly to be heard over the music.

"Studying," I replied gesturing to the books in front of me.

John reached for the radio. I was waiting for him to turn it off and walk off with it like my other brothers usually did. Scott had even thrown one across the room once which effectively turned it off but also meant he had to buy me a new one which was the one now sitting on the table.

Instead, John just turned the volume down a little. It was still louder than I normally listened to my music which mildly surprised me.

"Well keep it down a bit. They don't need to hear it on Tracy Island," John said and then headed for the bathroom.

I could definitely see that this wasn't going to be as easy as I thought it was. Well he was walking into the second of my little tricks and now that he was gone it was time to set up the next. I grabbed a bowl and the salt and pepper shaker and set about switching the salt to the pepper shaker and vice versa.

That done I sat back down at the table, turning the music down lower as I did so. I looked down at the book I had opened - Math. Yuck! I closed that book and reached for my history book. If I had any desire to avoid summer school I guess I should probably do some studying and history was the lesser of the three evils.

I heard the water from the shower turn off in the bathroom and started waiting for John to come storming out of the room. I was surprised when he didn't. Maybe my prank didn't work. Then I heard the shower turn back on and I knew it had worked. I couldn't help but laugh. I couldn't wait to see him.

Twenty minutes later I heard the bathroom door open again. Out came John, now dressed in his gold trimmed IR uniform, towel drying his now orange tinged white-blond hair. He had actually managed to get the color out more than I thought he would be able too. It was all I could do to keep myself from laughing again.

"Alan, we need to talk," John told me coming into the kitchen.

"About what?" I asked innocently. I had a feeling a lecture was coming up. There was no way he could ignore the orange hair.

"About last night," John answered surprising me. That was the last thing I was expecting. I guess John could ignore the orange hair. I didn't say anything though. I wasn't sure exactly what John was getting at now and I wasn't about to go volunteering any information. "Why did you leave?"John asked walking over to the counter and leaning against it.

"I was tired," I replied looking down at the table. When John didn't say anything though I found myself raising my head and looking across the table at where he stood. I could tell from the look he was giving me that he didn't believe me at all.

"I don't buy it, so what's up?" he asked and then waited for an answer. I didn't say anything. "Alan I can't help you if you don't talk to me."

"Who says I want your help," I told him standing up. I stalked out of the kitchen leaving the music playing and my school books on the table. I headed for the sleeping quarters and sat down on my bed.

Part of me was hoping that John would follow me. The other part was hoping that he didn't. I knew that if he kept at it I would end up telling him what was going through my mind. Admitting to him my doubts. Would he laugh?

I had no idea. Scott and Gordon would without a doubt. Virgil would at least have the decency to wait until he wasn't around me to laugh. But who knew with John. What kind of person could have someone dye their hair orange and not only not get mad but then go ahead and ask the person what was bothering them?

_That evening:_

"It usually helps to actually look at the book to study Alan," John commented as he walked into the kitchen. As he walked by he reached over my shoulder and confiscated the comic book I had opened inside of my science book.

"Give me that back," I exclaimed as I watched John disappear through the other door of the kitchen.

I knew where he was headed. He was going to check on his experiments. It wouldn't be long now before he was calling Dad to come and get me. I found myself watching the clock on the wall. Counting how long it was before John came back through the kitchen.

Twenty minutes later I heard his footsteps. He walked through the kitchen without a word. As he walked past he dropped the comic book he had taking from me earlier onto the table but didn't say a word.

I reached out and pulled the comic book over to me. Casting the school book aside I went back to reading the comic. I had a feeling I wouldn't be on Thunderbird 5 too much longer. John was probably talking to Dad right now and telling him to come get me.

I was just finishing the comic book when I heard John come back into the room. He tossed a notebook down on the table in front of me without a word.

"What's this?" I asked him curious. I looked up at him and saw a storm cloud. I could tell I had finally gotten to him.

"My notes from the experiment you ruined. Congratulations, you've got your subject for your science paper. I talked to your teacher. You're going to set the experiment back up and run it for the rest of your time up here. Your teacher expects a scientific paper cover set-up, procedure, whatever results you gather in the next six days, and a discussion section with your interpretation of those results."

"You're joking right?" I said.

"No Alan, I'm not. If you won't let me teach you anything else this week I at least plan on teaching you about taking responsibility for your actions," he told me and with that walked back out of the kitchen. I heard his footsteps disappear in the direction of the control room again.

I couldn't believe it. Despite all my efforts it looked as if I was going to be spending the whole week up here anyways. I looked down at the notebook in front of me. I couldn't believe they actually expected me to set up and run one of John's experiments. I opened the notebook and started glancing over his notes. The pages were filled with small neat handwriting.

"Well at least I'll be able to read what he wrote," I said softly to myself.

With a sigh I stood up and heading in the direction of the cargo bay where John had his experiments set up. I had a feeling John expected me to get started on this new project right away.


	7. Sounding Board

bograt - well I didn't want to make Alan seem like a complete "bad" kid. You'll find out about Alan's "motivation" in the chapter after this one. Meanwhile, I hope this answers your question about whether or not John has emotions.

ladc - yeah that would definitely explain the hair! Actually your comment gave me another story idea but thats a story that is just going to have to wait until I get some of the ones I'm currently working on finished. Thanks for reviewing.

AngelMouse5 - Well here you go - John's POV on Alan and his pranks. thanks for reading.

Devlinn Reiko-sama - glad to see you liked the chapter title. I always wondered if anyone actually took notice of those.

thunderbridgirl - glad to see you approve of how John is handling the situation.

k - thanks for letting me know you're reading and enjoying the story!

andrewjameswilliams - glad we're both in agreement that Alan needs responsibility. I just figured the fact that his science grade depends on it might give him a little extra motivation. Thanks for the continuous support!

Queen of the Elven City - well after such kind words how can I not forgive you for the lack of reviews - lol! Glad to see I havent' lost ya!

Kitkat Tictac - (cute username by the way!) I'm assuming you meant Alan ruining the experiment was a bit mean and I agree with you but I figured I needed to go a bit further to show Alan's desperation to get off T-bird 5. thanks for reviewing.

moonlightbear- Glad to hear your enjoying the story. As for the first chapter, I noticed the swtich between he and I too after I posted it and I keep meaning to go back and fix it but I never quite got to it (although they did make it easier to fix things that are posted here). When I started the story I was going to do it first person and then changed my mind which confused myself. Sorry about that and I'm glad it didn't keep you from continuing reading the story. Thanks for the review.

Pheonix - okay so as you can guess I don't have a beta and yes my grammar isn't the greatest. Sorry. Thanks for pointing out the mistakes though - (I'll have to try and go back and fix them). As for the commas I spent so many years in school getting yelled at for using too many commas that now I tend to shy away from them. I'm getting better though -lol. Thanks for the compliment on how I write first perspective. I use to shy away from it myself but somebody got me to try it and now I tend to switch between using first and third. It depends on the story. Thanks for the wonderful review!

Sarah - thanks for the review. I love knowing people are actually reading this. Its inspiring.

John's POV:

"No Alan, I'm not. If you won't let me teach you anything else this week I at least plan on teaching you about taking responsibility for your actions," I told my youngest brother as he looked up at me in disbelief. I was slowly running out a patience with him after all the pranks he had pulled on me but I wasn't about to cave and do the one thing he wanted me to do. I wasn't sending him back down to Tracy Island.

With that said I turned and headed back to the control room hoping Alan would take me seriously and getting started on his new assignment. I walked over to the chair and sat down in it. Leaning back I ran my hands through my hair.

No wonder Dad got so frustrated with Alan. I had never thought he would deliberately sabotage one of my experiments. Still, I knew Alan was a good kid and I knew he was smart. Smart enough to easily pass his classes. And more than capable of being a Thunderbird. He just needed some time. Time to finish growing up. Time to get all the training that the rest of us had. He had already managed to defeat the Hood without any formal training and that counted for something.

The sound of an incoming call broke through my thoughts.

I reached out and flipped the switch to let the incoming call come through. I saw my older brother's face come into view. Over his shoulder I could see Gordon.

"Hey Scott, what's up?"

"Just checking to make sure you're still there," Scott answered giving me a quizzical look. I knew what was causing the look but if he wasn't going to ask then I wasn't going to volunteer the information.

"Yeah, still here. How are repairs coming?" I asked him. I had already talked to Dad earlier in the day. He and Brains had found the problem with Thunderbird 1's engine and were hoping to have repairs done by the end of the day. The communications problem had been some faulty wiring in Thunderbird 2 and had been an easy fix.

"All done. Just got back from the test flight. She's purring like a kitten," Scott told me.

"Hey John, I know your fashion sense has never been the greatest but don't tell me you've decided to go punk on us," Gordon spoke up from behind Scott.

"It wasn't exactly planned," I told him. I should've known Gordon wouldn't let a chance at getting a jab in pass.

"Let me guess Alan," Scott said.

I nodded.

"This actually looks pretty good compared to when it first happened. I looked like a jack-o-lantern," I said a smiling coming to my face as my two brothers started to laugh. Even I had to admit the orange tinged hair looked pretty funny. "Orange is definitely not my color."

"At least he didn't put Nair in the shampoo," Gordon told me.

"Don't even go giving him any ideas Gordon. Alan's already learned enough of your pranks. Switching the salt and pepper shakers for one, not to mention the bucket of water over a doorway," I told him.

"So Alan's given you a hard time up there huh," Scott said getting his laughter under control. "If he's too much for you, I'm sure Dad will come up there for him."

"Oh no, that's exactly what he wants and I'm not giving in to him. I don't even care if I do go bald in the process. Something is up with Alan and I intend on finding out what it is."

"He's reckless. He got lucky with the Hood," Scott told me. "He's a liability. We'd be better off without him."

"I remember someone else who was reckless," I countered. "Come to think of it there are still times when he doesn't think before he acts."

"We're not talking about me," Scott said knowing exactly what I was getting at. I could hear a touch of anger in his voice.

"Scott, Alan is just as capable as the rest of us. Part of his problem is all of you teasing him and giving him a hard time. Telling him he's not good enough. A person hears that enough and they're going to start believing it themselves."

"So now you're blaming us for Alan's problems," Scott said defensively.

"Whoa, hold it you two," Gordon said before I had a chance to say anything else to Scott. "Let's not start arguing about this. We've always teased one another. I'm sure Alan knows we're not serious."

"_Alan? He's just a kid!"_

Those had been Gordon's words when we were stuck aboard Thunderbird 5. I knew he had been serious when he said those words. Had thought Alan wouldn't be able to save us. But he did have a point. I didn't want to get into an argument with Scott over this. I had enough problems trying to deal with Alan right now.

As I nodded I saw Scott do the same thing. Gordon was right. This wasn't something Scott and I should be fighting about.

Before any of us could say anything else though I heard Dad's voice off camera.

"There you two are," I could hear my Dad say. "Virgil's looking for you two. He said something about he's ready now."

"Great, its about time he quit practicing that piano and did something fun," Gordon exclaimed!"Catch ya later John," he said and then disappeared from my view.

Scott shook his head as he watched Gordon run out of the room. When he turned back to the screen I saw the smile fade and his face grew more serious.

"Hey John about last night, thanks for keeping me from completely freaking out and for not telling me about the back of the craft taking on water. I think if I had known that I would have tried making a swim for it," Scott told me.

Which was pretty much what I figured and why I kept my mouth shut.

"Just doing my job," I told him easily.

"Yeah right," he said with a small laugh. "Take it easy John and watch out for Alan. He might have more pranks."

"Oh believe me I'm keeping my eye out and I plan on checking my bed before climbing into it tonight."

On the screen I saw Scott look away from the screen briefly.

"Dad wants to talk to you John," Scott said looking back at the screen. "Talk to you tomorrow," Scott told me.

"Okay Scott, and take it easy on those other two."

"Who? Me?" he said with an innocent look and then disappeared from view. A few moments later my Dad took the seat that Scott had vacated, shaking his head.

"What's up Dad?" I asked him wondering why he wanted to talk to me.

I saw Dad look toward the vid screen and his smile faded. I knew he had seen my newly colored hair.

"I can come get him if you want?" Dad told me.

"It's just dye. It will come out eventually," I told him shaking my head. It was touching how my family seemed to want to come and rescue me from my little brother. "To tell you the truth Dad I think that is just what Alan is after. I think he's trying to get me to send him back down there."

"Why do you say that John? Alan's always tried to annoy you boys. I think its his way of getting back for all the teasing he takes."

"It's not the pranks Dad. He left the control room in the middle of the mission last night Dad, and we both know Alan watches the news broadcasts of our missions whenever he can and he won't talk to me about it. And then earlier when I was trying to show him some things up here he was acting like he had no clue what was going on. "

"Are you sure he was acting?"

I gave my father a disbelieving look. I couldn't believe he had even bothered to ask this question.

"Dad, Alan's been interested in these ships for the last three years. Now granted, he hasn't shown quite as much interest in Thunderbird 5 as the others but he's ask me enough questions in the past years to show me that he knows more than what he was pretending to know earlier today. It's almost as if he doesn't want to do the training anymore but doesn't want to admit to it."

"Maybe I should come get him then," my Dad said a thoughtful look coming to his face. "If he isn't going to take this seriously then I don't want him training. It will only lead to him or someone else getting hurt."

"Dad, I think he's scared. I think the glamour of all this is starting to wear away and he's starting to see just how dangerous this all his. I think he's starting to see how costly a mistake could be and after all the times Scott, Virgil, and Gordon have called him a screw-up, even jokingly, I think he's starting to believe that himself."

"But he's always went through a mission. He's had first hand experience of what we do."

"He got thrown into that encounter with the Hood. He didn't have time to think about what it was he was doing all he knew was that his family was in danger. There's time to think about things now. Now both you and I know that he's capable of being a Thunderbird but I think Alan needs to be convinced again that he can."

"Maybe it is too soon John," my Dad told me. I could hear the doubt in his voice. I knew how hard this was for him. How hard it was to watch my brothers and me go into dangerous situations but it was who we were. Alan was no different and now that the Hood knew who we were none of us were safe anyway. Not even Alan. It didn't matter if he became a member of International Rescue or not. To the Hood he was a target and Alan had a better chance against the Hood with the training all of us had gone through under his belt.

"The longer you put off facing something you fear the harder it is to conquer that fear," I said repeating words that my father had told me when he first started training me and Scott for International rescue. I had never been a fan of flying. I was always much happier having both feet solidly on the ground. Piloting one of the Thunderbirds was the last thing I wanted to do. However, I wanted to be a part of the organization my father was building.

"How did you get to be so wise?" my father asked lightly.

"I listened to a very wise man I know." I told him. "Besides Dad, Alan has to stay up here to complete the science paper he was assigned now."

I saw my Dad's questioning look and filled him in on the ruined experiment and my talk with Alan's science teacher.

Jeff's POV:

"Nice job, John," I told my son as he finished telling me about the new project he had Alan working on. "I couldn't have handled that better myself."

"I'm just glad he picked that particular experiment to sabotage as I just started it the day before you brought him up. A couple of those other ones I've been doing for weeks. I don't think I would've been able to keep from going off on him if it had been one of the others."

Secretly, I had a feeling Alan knew that when he decided to sabotage an experiment. Alan tended to get into trouble, and he could be destructive, but he never actually ever set out to be that way. Even when he had blown up the school, well okay the chemistry lab of the school really, it had been an accident. Alan had just got to daydreaming in chemistry class and had mixed some wrong chemicals. Alan and Fermat had suffered some chemical burns but had been okay in a few weeks, but thankfully no one else had been hurt although the school had been shut down for a month and I had been asked to place Alan in another school.

I had to smile though. I had a feeling that Alan could have sabotaged any of those experiments and still not sent John over the edge.

_Scott and I had been sitting in the kitchen talking over a cup of coffee about actually starting to build the space rocket Brains and I had on the drawing board. We had finally gotten all of the kinks out of Thunderbirds 1 and 2 and Brains, Scott and I had even conducted a couple of small rescue operations. John still had another year of highschool before he could join us full time although I was considering letting him finish highschool at home via the internet. I knew he would be happier and he had finally made it through the public speaking class after three tries. I knew class presentations was the only thing that kept his grades down. If I kept him at home, even despite all the distractions here, I had no doubt John would compete the required courses without me having to keep an eye on him._

_The kids had been back on the island for spring break and it had been nice to have them back although Scott had been complaining that it was better when they were away. I knew in a few days though he would be complaining about the quiet._

_A crash from the den stopped our conversation short. I quickly got up from the stool I was sitting in and rushed to the other room with Scott right behind me. The sight in the den stopped me in my tracks. _

_Gordon and Virgil were standing together looking at John's model of the solar system that he had been doing for the science fair at his school. He had gone all out on it. Each planet had all of its rings and satellites, and he had even manage to get the orbits of each planet exactly right. Now it laid on the floor in pieces. A football in the middle of the mess told me exactly what had happened._

"_How many times have I told you two not to throw that football in the house," I told my two sons._

"_Sorry, Dad," both of them said quietly looking at the floor._

"_John is going to kill you both," I heard Scott say from behind me. I shot him a warning look over my shoulder. _

_Before anything else could be said I heard John's voice coming down the steps. He was busy talking to Brains but he stopped in mid sentence as he reached the bottom of the steps and saw his project on the floor. I saw a myriad of emotions cross his face, and I was ready to grab him if he went after his two brothers. I knew he had a temper, even though he rarely ever showed it. John and Scott had given one another enough black eyes and bloody noses for me to know that. I knew how much time had gone into that project. It was enough to make anyone go over the edge._

_Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Virgil and Gordon both get ready to make a run for it. Evidently they shared their older brother's assessment of the situation._

_To my surprise and I think everyone else's in the room, John didn't lose it. In fact, he didn't say anything as he walked across the room and knelt down next to the ruined solar system. We all watched as he calmly started picking up the pieces ready to rebuild his solar system. After a few minutes I simply walked over and started helping him, Scott following my lead. Even Virgil and Gordon had chipped in once they were sure John wasn't going to strangle either of them._

_None of us got any sleep that night, but by morning when it was time for me to take the kids back to school we had that solar system put back together._

"What are you smiling about?" I heard John ask.

"Just remembering something," I told him. "I think you have things under control up there for right now," I said trying to change the subject. "What's Alan up to now?"

"Well, he's either still in the kitchen where I left him reading a comic book or something or he's in the cargo bay starting his new project," John told me. "I'll check on him in a little bit."

"Okay, let me know what happens. Anything else going on around the world I should know about?"

I saw John make a quick sweep of the computers on Thunderbird 5.

"Everything seems pretty quiet right now. There is a tropical depression off the coast of Africa that warrants keeping an eye on, but that's it."

"Good. Talk to you later John."

"FAB, Dad," he replied and then the screen went blank.

Despite John's insistence I couldn't help but wonder if I was doing the right thing. If Alan was doubting himself then maybe I should go get him. I was his father. I couldn't help but think I should be the one dealing with this.

On the other hand Alan and I had been at odds with each other for the last couple of years. Maybe John would have an easier time getting through to him. Still, I couldn't help but wonder how long even John's patience could last stuck on the space station with Alan.


	8. Turning the Tables

Thank -you all for reviewing!!

AngelMouse5 - glad you approve of my portrayal of John. Happy New Year's!

andrewjameswilliams - glad you see my point. When I first saw the movie I hated Alans character but then I got to thinking it can't be easy to have four brothers who are hereos.

thunderbirdgirl - having only the movie to go off of I must admit I'm having fun exploring the Tracy family. Glad you like my choices.

May Portland - glad you finally decided to leave a review! It means a lot! And thanks for the wonderful compliment about how I seem to know the characters. That was so nice to hear. Happy New Year's

Phoenix - you think I'm quotable! That's great. I liked that line a lot myself. Glad someone else appreciated it too! As for nobody wanting to talk to Alan I didn't really even realize that. I guess you can take it two ways 1) nobody does want to talk to him which is harsh or 2)they talk to him during the times I'm not showing. If it makes you happy I do have reference of him talking with Fermat in this chapter, lol!

Kitkat Tictac - you might not be happy at the end of this chapter. It's a bit of a cliffhanger - sorry! Other than that I hope you enjoy it.

moonlightbear- here's more! keep cheering me on ( i think I'll have some very unhappy people if I take a couple month hiatus again).

PsychoSpiff01 - I think this chapter is pretty good but I'm a little bias! Thanks for the compliment. Short and sweet.

Marblez - I was wondering if you were still reading. Glad to see I didn't lose you and glad you've enjoyed the last five chapters.

claire - I'm the baby of the family myself so I know about trying to get people to take you seriously. I guess in that way I can identify with Alan. Glad to hear you're enjoying the story. Thanks for taking the time to review.

John's POV:

I switched off the communications and sat back. What the hell did I know about raising a fifteen year old kid? Maybe I should've let my Dad handle this?

Then I thought about my ruined experiment. No, I wasn't caving. I wasn't letting a fifteen year old get the best of me. Besides I wanted Alan to know just how hard that experiment had been to set up and run. The project would be good for him and, whether he liked it or not, he might actually learn something in the process.

I turned the chair around and stood up. As I did something black fell down in front of me. Startled, I jumped back tripping over the chair in the process. I reached out a hand and rested it on the console trying to steady myself.

Catching my breath, I straightened back up and went to see what had startled me. I reached out a hand to the object dangling in front of me. It was a fake spider. Alan's name was right on the tip of my tongue. I had just about had it with that little brother of mine.

Instead of going off though I took a deep breath and slowly counted to ten. Yelling at him would get me absolutely nowhere. My father had already tried that route.

After I had calmed myself down, I pulled the spider down and headed for the kitchen where I had left Alan. In the kitchen I found that Alan had disappeared leaving his books scattered on the table. I did notice that my notebook was gone.

Leaving the spider on the table I headed for the cargo bay. I walked inside the bay quietly trying not to let Alan hear me. Sure enough, over in the area I had set aside for my experiments I saw Alan trying to set up the experiment that he had sabotaged on me. Part of me wanted to go over and give him a hand but I restrained myself. This was something he needed to do himself. Instead I headed back to the control room. At least there wasn't anything over there that Alan might accidently blow up.

Alan's POV:

I looked back at John's notes. I wanted to double check and make sure everything was right. I felt bad about what I had done. I knew I had stepped across the line with this act.

I was also starting to see just how much work John had put into this. Work that I had undermined in just a few minutes. To tell you the truth, I was even more impressed that my brother hadn't tried to strangle me.

Everything looked to be okay. I glanced at my watch. I couldn't believe how late it was. I had spent almost three hours on this thing. I was definitely done for the night. Gathering John's notebook and the notes I had taken so far, which were no where near as detailed, I left the cargo bay.

I walked into the kitchen and was surprised to find all my school books stacked neatly in a pile. Along side the pile sat my fake spider. Evidently, John had taken that one as calmly as he had all the other stuff I had pulled today. The rest of the station was dark, which meant John had already gone to bed. I wondered if he had found the surprise I had left him. I had almost gone and retrieved it before going to the cargo bay but had decided not to. After what I had just spent the last three hours doing I wish I had.

Sitting the stuff in my hands on top of the pile, I decided to leave the stuff there. I left the kitchen, turning the light out behind me and headed for the bedroom. Trying to be quiet, I walked over to my bed and climbed in. As I put my feet under the blanket though I felt something furry.

"Aaaahhhh!" I yelled involuntarily, scrambling back out of the bed. I could feel my heart pounding as I reached out and turned on the light over my bed. Now able to see, I reached out and threw the blanket back. There, sitting in my bed was the furry, fake mouse that I had left in John's bed.

I heard soft laughter behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see John, propped up on one elbow, looking in my direction, a huge smile on his face. He looked wide awake which told me he had been waiting for me to come to bed.

I picked the mouse up and threw it in his direction. John managed to catch it with his free hand.

"Good night, Alan," John said still laughing as he placed the mouse on a nearby shelf and laid his head down on the pillow.

I reached over and turned the light off and then climbed back into my bed, without any furry friends this time. I had to smile. I guess Gordon was wrong. John did have a sense of humor. It was the first time that any of my brothers, with the exception of Gordon who usually started things, had ever bothered to retaliate with a prank of their own. They usually just got mad at me or started beating on me in Scott's case.

_Monday afternoon:_

"Alan are you even listening to me?" John asked me sounding exasperated. He had been trying to explain things about Thunderbird 5 for the last hour and to be honest I had heard every last word he said and had understood most of it. The few things that I hadn't understood had been difficult not to ask questions about.

If I started asking questions then John would know I was interested. I didn't want him to know that. Even though I had resigned myself to spending the rest of the week up here, I was still hoping that John would tell Dad I wasn't ready to be a Thunderbird.

"What?" I asked him as if I hadn't heard the question.

"Alan what is your problem?" John asked me.

"I don't have a problem." I answered looking out the viewport at the earth below us. I knew looking over at John would give myself away.

"I don't believe that for a minute. I might not see you that often but I'm not completely isolated up here you know. I know everything that goes on down on Earth. I know how much you've wanted to be a part of International Rescue and now suddenly you don't care. Alan talk to me!"

I heard the pleading in his voice. I so much wanted to tell about my doubts. How I didn't want to be a part of this any more because I was afraid of letting everyone down like I had so many times before. I couldn't though. I had learned a long time ago not to reveal a weakness to one of my brothers, as they only used it for ammunition.

"Alan?" I heard him say again. I couldn't stop myself from looking in his direction and when I did all I saw was concern on his face.

In my head I heard Scott's words again. "_Yeah, keep Alan away from the ships. He's a hazzard."_

"What if Scott's right?" I said out loud without thinking. Once the words were out though I couldn't take them back.

Much to my relief the communications system started beeping before John could say anything about what I had just said. As the switch to open communications was in front of me, I had to fight to keep my hand from reaching out and opening the channel. John was right. I had wanted to be a part of this and part of me still did. However, I also didn't want to be the one to mess up everything my Dad and brothers had worked so hard to create.

John reached across me and switched the communications link open.

"This is NASA calling International Rescue," came the voice over the communications link.

"NASA, this is International Rescue how can we assist you?" John asked.

"International Rescue, we've lost radio contact with Space Station Nova. It will take us about five hours to get a shuttle ready to launch. Would it be possible for International Rescue to go to Space Staion Nova and find out what's going on?"

"Copy that NASA. We'll check it out and as soon as we know anything we'll be back in touch with you," I heard John say as I stood up to leave. I was halfway down the access corridor when I heard John call after me.

"Alan where are you going?"

I kept on walking, knowing that he wouldn't be able to follow me any time soon. Maybe by that time he would have forgotten about the comment I had just let slipped out. The start of a conversation that I didn't want to have.

John's POV:

"_What if Scott's right?" _

Those words had stayed with me even after Alan had left. As I waited to hear from my Dad and brothers to find out what was going on at NASA's space station I thought about them. Trying to figure out just what Alan had meant by them. My conversation the day before with Scott came to mind.

"_He's reckless. He got lucky with the Hood. He's a liability. We'd be better off without him."_

Had Scott said something similar to Alan? Knowing Scott he probably had and that would explain a lot. If Alan was taking Scott seriously, then we had to convince Alan that it wasn't true. That he could be a Thunderbird. I also knew that at this point nothing we said was going to do any good. We had to prove it to him some other way.

The situation at Space Station Nova had proved to be nothing more than a communications problem. My family had assisted the astronauts with the necessary repairs and got them back in contact with NASA control. With that out of the way I had told my Dad to give me a call when they got back to the island so we could talk about Alan. I was currently waiting for that call.

I heard the beeping of the incoming call and quickly opened the communications link. My father's face appeared on the screen. I could see Virgil, and Scott hovering just behind him and had no doubt Gordon was near by, just out of my view.

"What's up John?" my Dad asked a look of mixed curiosity, confusion, and concern on his face.

I told him about what Alan had said and about my suspicions.

"Then it really is my fault," I heard Scott say. Even though I could hear the regret in his voice I was still slightly mad at my older brother.

"This is nobody's fault," my father said quickly looking over his shoulder at Scott.

I knew my father was right. It wasn't like we had purposely teamed up on Alan. All of us had been teased by the others and were guilty of some teasing, even me. Still, somehow it had gotten out of hand with Alan. Yet, I bit back the words that were on the tip of my tongue.

"_You're right its your fault,"was what I wanted to tell Scott._

Somehow, as irrational as I knew it to be, it was easier to pin the blame on one person then on all of us, or to take responsibility for it myself. Being the oldest, Scott was the perfect target.

"_It's not Scott's fault though. We're all guilty,"_ the rational part of my brain said. Luckily I was listening to the rational part enough to know to keep my thoughts to myself.

"John, are you okay?" I heard Virgil ask. I came out of the daze I had fallen into to find my family looking at me in concern, over the vid link. Even Gordon had crammed himself into view. I realized they must have been trying to get my attention for a little while.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just thinking," I said in answer to Virgil's question hoping none of them would ask me what I was thinking about.

"Or at least as fine as he ever was," Gordon quipped which earned him an elbow in the ribs from Virgil. "Ow, hey that hurt," Gordon told him giving Virgil an evil look.

"Good," Virgil replied without looking back at Gordon.

I could tell by the look on my father's face that he was trying hard to ignore the two behind him. He usually tried to stay out things between us kids unless he felt it was getting too out of hand.

"What's important now is we fix this," my Dad said as if Virgil and Gordon had never said anything. "We need to restore Alan's self-confidence. Get him to believe that not only do we think he's capable of being a part of this but get him to realize for himself that he's capable of it."

"We could talk until we turn blue and he isn't going believe us," Virgil said.

"Exactly what I was thinking," I told them. "I think we need to show him and I have an idea but its going to take all of us to pull it off."

"Well, let's hear it John," my father said.

Alan's POV:

_Tuesday afternoon:_

I flipped to the back of the math book, my pencil marking the page I was working from, looking for the answers to the section of problems I was currently working on. Finding the right page I scanned the answers for the answer to problem three. Seeing the correct answer I let the book fall back open to the page I was working from.

My answer was nowhere near right. Frustrated, I grabbed the eraser from the table and furiously started erasing the work I had just done for about the third time.

"Do you need some help?"

I looked up to see John standing in the doorway, an issue of Scientific America in his hand.

"No, I'm fine," I said stubbornly not wanting to admit my failure. Asking for help made it seem more real. More certain that I was going to be spending my summer at school.

I saw John shrug his shoulders and head in the direction of the control room.

"Real smart, Alan," I muttered to myself as my furious erasing tore the piece of paper. With a sigh, I tore the paper out of my notebook, wadded it up and let it fall to the floor.

I definitely needed help. It was clear to me that I had no clue what I was doing. I could try getting a hold of Fermat and have him try helping me although I wasn't sure how much good that would do. Evidently nothing from our study session last night had made it through the night. I could have swore I understood this stuff last night.

I looked back at my sloppy class notes. What was I doing wrong?

I tried the problem a few more times, and got the same wrong answer two more times and another wrong answer the third time.

"Summer school here I come," I said throwing my pencil down on the table and sitting back in my chair. I couldn't help but wonder how my Dad would take me not taking my finals at all. Somehow, I didn't think that would go over to well.

Then I got to thinking about how much fun my brothers would have with the fact that I had to go to summer school. Not to mention the thought of them on a tropical island while I was stuck in the classroom for two more months.

I picked the pencil, notebook, and math book and stood up. Hopefully, John would still be willing to help.

I heard voices as I approached the control room. As I got to the end of the access tunnel I could start to make them out.

"Dad veer off, you're getting too close to one of the mountains," I heard John say into the radio. Silence followed.

"That was close," I heard Virgil comment softly over the link. "It's hard to see the mountains through this fog until you're right up on them.

"You're telling me. Thanks John. There must be something wrong with these senors," I heard my father say.

"If it's the senors Dad, then I think Thunderbird 1 is experiencing the same difficulties," Scott said breaking in. "I can't make any sense of these readings."

"Something in the mountains maybe," I heard Virgil speculate.

I took a couple of steps more into the control room. I was worried for my father and brothers. Something could easily go wrong. If the fog was bad and the sensors malfunctioning then both Thunderbird 1 and Thunderbird 2 were flying blind.

"I think we're going to have to abort the mission," I heard my dad said. "The risk it too great. We can't be flying around this mountain range . . ."

An explosion cut off the rest of his words. I felt my heart leap into my throat. What had just happened?

I was so worried, that it took me a moment to realize that the explosion had come from onboard of Thunderbird 5 and not over the radio link. Then I notice one of the control panels smoking, which must have been the source of the explosion. It was then that I realized that John was no longer at his position in front of the controls.

Instead, my brother lay motionless, on the floor. I let the math book drop from my hand and rushed over to him, calling his name as I knelt down beside him.


	9. Rescue

ladc - you'll have to read and find out. Thanks for reviewing!

Capt. cow -glad the slow stat didn't turn you off the story and I'm flattered that you've read it more than once.

AngelMouse 5 - You'll have to let me know if you were right or not. Thanks for suggested the web site although I did check it out not long after seeing the movie this summer so I know what you mean. As for seeing the series, my dad has some of them on dvd himself but I've been hesistant to see anymore than I already have as I'm kind of sold on the movie-verse t-birds if you know what I mean.

May Portland - glad you liked John turning the tables on Alan. As for the line you criticized, let me just say that I have a older brother and although he's a foot taller and about a hundred pounds heavier than me, we've had some all out fights. I've gotten my share of bruises from him but I've gotten him good a few times to. Twenty minutes later though we're best of friends so maybe that will show you where I'm coming from there.

Kitkat Tictac - soon enought for you!

andrewjameswilliams - well now you can read and find out what is going on. Thanks for reviewing.

PyschoSpiff01 - thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!

Phoenix - i'll take it as my grammar is improving! glad you enjoyed John's retaliation. And Alan gets to talk to someone other than John in a scene. Aren't you proud of me?

moonlightbear - well I just had to have an update for you by the 3rd. I can sympathize - i have my own computer but I fight for the internet connection with my Dad and brother

Sarah - you can takea break from hanging and enjoy the next chapter!

Queen of the Elven City- gives reviewer evil glare - lol! I can forgive you as you reviewed both chapters and had such wonderful things to say about me. As for what did John do to me - you know the the saying "we hurt the ones we love" don't you. Um, and do you realize that giving me story ideas isn't the greatest thing. I have five stories, other than this one, posted on this sight that are in progress, as well as one on another sight and others on my computer and on paper. I have to say though, I think I'm going to have to take you up on that challenge. Alan blowing up the lab could be interesting.

John's POV:

"John!" I heard Alan shout. I could hear and feel his footsteps on the floor of Thunderbird 5 as he rushed toward me. Sensed him kneel down beside me. Feel him as he checked for a pulse and then rested his hand on my shoulder.

"John can you hear me," I heard him say. I could hear the fear in his voice. I couldn't believe I was actually doing this, making him think I was hurt but it was necessary. Unless I wasn't around to take care of things Alan was going to keep pretending that he didn't care about all of this. That he didn't know how to operate Thunderbird 5. I forced myself to keep my eyes closed. Tried to ignore the ache in my left wrist, which I must have twisted in my less than graceful acting job. There was definitely know way I'd ever make it on Star Trek.

"John your going to have to guide us out of here," I could hear my father saying over the still open radio link. "John are you there?" my father asked when I didn't reply to his call.

'Come on Alan' I thought to myself. 'It's up to you now. You know what you need to do and how to do it.'

"John?" my father said again. "Alan?" he said a few moments later still waiting for some kind of answer. "What's going on up there boys?"

'Come on Alan, answer him' I silently coaxed my brother. Even with my eyes closed I still knew he was there beside me. Could feel his hand still resting on my shoulder.

I heard a klaxon go off. I had to fight the instinct to jump into action at the sound of that klaxon. That one was the one that indicated that one of the Thunderbirds were on a collision course with something. In this case I knew what that something one. Thunderbirds 1 and 2 were on a collision course with each other. It was part of my plan. Even though my brain knew there was no real danger my body still wanted to jump into action.

Through the hand he had resting on my shoulder, I felt Alan tense up. I knew, that he knew what that sound meant. I knew he had been listening to everything I had been telling him these past few days although he had been acting as if he hadn't. I also knew that Alan knew exactly what needed to be done. The question was - would he do it?

Scott's POV:

I switched the collision alarm off. I couldn't take listening to it.

"I'm only flying this thing straight at a big green rocket. I can see I'm on a collision course," I muttered to myself.

"What was that Scott?" I heard my father ask on the private link we had set up between Thunderbirds 1 and 2 for this "mission".

"Nothing Dad," I told him. I looked down at the radar and the distance between my ship and Thunderbird 2. "Dad what if Alan doesn't do anything?" I asked him putting voice to the doubts that were in my head.

"He will Scott."

"And if he doesn't?" I asked again not letting it go. "How close am I suppose to get before pulling out?"

"You're fine Scott. Just hold the course steady."

I trusted my father, I did but sometimes I think he tended to trust others a little too much. Personally, I would rather rely on myself. I liked to be in control. Waiting on a fifteen year old kid to get over whatever fears he had was not what I called being in control. I still didn't even know why we had to get this elaborate anyways.

"_We've got to make it look real or he'll see right through it."_

Those had been John's words yesterday when I had voiced my reservations about his plan. Dad had agreed with him.

'This had better work,' I thought to myself as I looked down on my instruments again.

"What's going on up there boys?" I heard my father ask again.

'My thoughts exactly,' I couldn't help but thinking. For all we knew we were taking this chance for nothing. Alan might already know this was a ruse. That we had set him up.

If I didn't hear one of my brothers respond from Thunderbird 5 soon I was pulling up and I would just have to deal with the lecture from my Dad.

I was just about to do so when I heard Alan's voice come over the radio link.

Alan's POV:

In the back of my mind my father's words registered. I knew I should answer him. Tell him what had happened up here but at the same time I didn't want to leave John's side. Part of me was afraid that if I left him then I would lose him.

Then I heard the klaxon go off. Suddenly, I seemed to come out of the daze I had fallen into. I knew what that klaxon meant. John wasn't the only member of my family that needed me.

I quickly stood up and rushed toward the still smoking control panel hoping that whatever it was that had blown wouldn't affect my ability to help my father and brothers. I looked at the screen that showed the radar information for the Thunderbirds.

I hadn't thought things could get any worse but as I looked at that screen I realized just how wrong I was. Thunderbirds 1 and 2 were on a collision course with each other.

"Scott pull up," I said quickly into the radio knowing that Thunderbird 1 was the more maneuverable one of the two rockets. I just hoped my older brother would listen to me without questioning me.

I felt relief wash over me as I saw the blue and green dots on the radar move past each other and keep going. The control room of Thunderbird 5 got eeriely quiet as the klaxon stopped.

"What was that?" I heard Virgil ask.

"You don't want to know," my father told him.

"Thanks squirt," I heard Scott's voice come over the radio.

"Alan, where's John?" my father asked.

"John's hurt," I said glancing over my shoulder at him still lying on the control deck.

"Okay then Alan, its up to you," I heard my father say. "With our sensors out and this fog, you're going to have to guide us out of this mountain range."

I took a deep breath. What if I messed up? What if Thunderbird 1 or Thunderbird 2 crashed because I said something wrong or missed something? I so did not want to do this but as I looked again over my shoulder at my fallen brother I knew I had to. I had no choice.

"Okay Dad," I said quietly taking a seat in the chair John usually occupied, I started guided the two rockets with my family onboard out of the mountain range.

Jeff's POV:

As I listened to Alan's voice "lead" us out of the mountain range I had to smile to myself. Alan had done it. Once again he had proven that he was capable of being a effective member of the team even though he had a lot to learn still.

"That was close," Virgil said behind me. "I was starting to think it wouldn't work."

"To tell you the truth, so was I," I told Virgil. "And then someone over there laughing didn't help matters," I said glancing over at Gordon who occupied the third seat on Thunderbird 2. "What if Alan had heard you Gordon?"

"I'm sorry Dad. It was just when Virgil asked, "what was that", and you answered him, I don't know something struck me as funny. Maybe it was all the tension."

"Dad, do you think this actually worked? Do you think this helped Alan realize that he is ready for this?" I heard Virgil ask me, probably trying to keep Gordon from making any remarks about his acting abilities.

I looked over at my middle son. Virgil took after both of his older brothers. He had Scott's fiery temper, self-confidence, and outgoing personality. Yet, like John he thought things through more before taking action. Right now I was seeing more of John's influence. I could see in Virgil's eyes the genuine concern he had for Alan, that he had for both of his younger brother's.

As much as I wanted to reassure him, tell him that it had worked I knew I couldn't. I had reservations myself. Still, if this didn't get through to Alan I wasn't sure what else would.

"I hope so, Virgil," I told him.

"I'm not sure I'd want to be John right now," Gordon said. Both Virgil and I looked at him. "When he finds out this was a ruse he is going to be mad," he told us.

I nodded. Gordon had a point. I was sure that John realized though and I was even more sure that he could handle Alan. In fact, he was probably the best one to talk to Alan after that. The only one of us that would really have any chance of reaching him.

As we flew Thunderbird 2 over the foothills of the mountain range I knew we would be finding out soon how effective this had been. I made the decision to call up to Thunderbird 5 as soon as we got back to base to check in on John and Alan.

"Good work, Alan," I told him. " Sensors are clearing up now, it must have been something in the mountains that was interfering with them. I'll call and let you know when we're all back at base."

"FAB Dad," I heard Alan reply.

"Come on boys, let's get these birds back home," I said to my other three sons.

"I'll see you there slow pokes," Scott's said over the radio as we saw Thunderbird 1 shoot past us overhead. Sometimes I wondered if letting Scott fly that thing was a mistake.

John's POV:

"Good work, Alan" I heard my father say over the radio telling me that our little charade was over.

I slowly started to sit up, being careful not to put weight on my still aching left wrist. I saw Alan turn around in the chair. As soon as he saw me sitting up he was quickly out of the chair and at my side.

"Are you okay?" he asked me as he knelt down beside me.

I felt that pang of guilt go through me again. How could I have done this to him? Somehow, I knew I couldn't just let him continue thinking this had been real. I had to reassure him that I was okay and the only way I could do that was to admit to him what we had done. I knew he was going to be mad but I also knew he would be even madder if he figured it out later down the line.

"I'm fine," I told him standing up. "Alan I think there is something you need to know," I told him slowly walking toward the one wall, trying to figure out how to tell him. I reached the wall and then turned around. Alan was looking at me intently. I could tell he was trying to figure out what I was getting at. "Alan we set you up."

"What?"

"The exploding control panel, the malfunctioning sensors, it was all a ruse. We were trying to show you that your capable of this. That you're capable of being a member of International Rescue if you want to be."

"You set me up," Alan whispered in disbelief.

"I didn't know what else to do Alan. You wouldn't talk to me. You were acting as if you didn't care. Now, if you had said you no longer wanted to be a part of this than that would have been different, but you just started acting as if all of this didn't matter. I know you better than that Alan. We all do."

"You made me think you were hurt to prove a point," Alan said a little more forcefully. "How could you do that to me John? I really thought you were hurt."

"There was no other way Alan. I knew that as long as I was here to handle things you would just keep pretending that you didn't know what to do."

"I hate you, John" Alan said vehemently.

The words staggered me. I had expected Alan to be mad. I had expected him to yell at me, maybe not talk to me for awhile but not this. To hear those words with such force behind them. I got the feeling that he really meant it.

"Alan, I'm sorry," I said softly as I headed for the access corridor. I could only see these conversation deteriorating even more should I stay.

Alan's POV:

"_I hate you, John."_

As soon as those words were out of my mouth I regretted them. It wasn't true. I didn't hate my brother. Yes, I was really mad at him right now but I didn't hate him. Somewhere deep down, I knew he had only been trying to help me.

I just barely heard his whispered apology as he left the control deck. What I hadn't missed though was the look in his eyes. Maybe John hadn't been hurt by the "exploding panel", but what I had said had just hurt him deeply.

I made my way back to the chair and sank down into it. This wasn't what I had wanted. All I had wanted was for John to tell Dad that I wasn't ready. I wanted a way out without really saying that I wanted out. John had a point, I hadn't been willing to talk to him.

And as mad as I was at my family for tricking me, I was also touched. Touched that they would go to such lengths to try and help me. I knew their actions had been motivated by love.

I heard the communications link beep. I absently reached out and switched it on, turning to face the vid screen as my father's face appeared on it.

"Hey Alan," my father said with his familiar smile. The smile quickly faded though as he took in the look on my face. "Alan what's wrong?"

I wasn't sure I wanted to tell him about what had just taking place. I knew my father would be disappointed in me. Would no doubt take John's side.

"Alan?" I heard him say again.

"John told me what you guys did. Told me that it was just a set up."

"Alan, we were only trying to help. Trying to show you that we do believe in you. I know your brothers give you a hard time. That I'm always getting on your case about school and stuff but its because I know you are capable of doing better. Alan, I know you're more than capable of being a Thunderbird but I also think you still need time to be a kid. I don't want International Rescue to be the all consuming thing in your life right now and I do want you to graduate high school."

"What if I don't want to be a part of IR at all Dad?" I asked looking down at my hands in my lap. I wanted to know the answer to that question even though I didn't want to see the look on Dad's face right now. Deep down I knew that John was right about that to. As scared as I was, I still wanted to be a part of this.

"Alan, look at me," my Dad said. Slowly I raised my head to look at him. I saw concern and sympathy but not the disappointment that I had been expecting. "I'm not going to lie to you. I would very much like it if you chose to be a part of this. Chose to help me with my dream but I'd never force you to. If you choose to do something else with your life than I will support you one hundred percent in whatever it is. Gordon almost chose to do something else."

"He did?" I said surprised. I hadn't even realized that.

"Yes he did. Gordon wanted to join NASA, be apart of the research and development of space technology that they're doing there. That's why I sent him to space camp that one summer. After spending the summer there, he realized that by being a part of IR didn't mean he had to give up that interest. And you can't tell Scott or Virgil this either because he doesn't want them to know yet but he's been taking college courses over the computer since he graduated high school."

I couldn't believe it. I had always thought that being a part of IR was expected of me just like everyone else and his last few years of highschool, IR was all I ever heard Gordon talk about. That was what had first really sparked my interest in it. Hearing Gordon talk about getting to start his training and then hearing about that. I never expected he had any interest in anything else. Although that did explain why he spent so much time with Brains as he tried to update and fix problems on Thunderbird 3 and 5.

As for taking classes, that probably explained all the times Gordon locked himself into his room and wouldn't tell anyone what he was up to. I wasn't sure why he wanted to keep it a secret though. Maybe he was afraid we'd give him a hard time about it just like they all gave me a hard time about things.

After this talk with Dad I felt even worse about what I had just told my older brother. I knew I had to apologize to him but I didn't know if he would listen to me or not.

"Alan, is something else wrong?"

I told him about my conversation with John and what I had told him.

"What if John never wants to speak to me again?" I asked him struggling to hold back the tears.

"Alan, just go talk to him," Dad said softly. "Maybe I should have told you this before, but Alan, John has always believed in you. He's always reminding me that despite the trouble that you get in that you're a good kid. And he's right. When you wanted to go after the Hood, John believed that you could do it. The whole reason that you're up there this week is because John wanted to help you."

I looked at my father taking in his words. I barely heard his last sentence as I was still digesting what he had said before that. _When you wanted to go after the Hood, John believed that you could do it. _I had notice my father look off to the side when I was talking to him via communications then but I hadn't really thought about it. Now that my Dad had said that I realized what he had been doing. He had been looking to John for guidance.

I knew my Dad talked about things with John that he didn't with the rest of us. I had accidently overheard one of their conversations one night when I had come to talk to my Dad before going to bed. Dad had been discussing an argument he had with Scott earlier in the day. Realizing that an interruption at that time wouldn't be taken well, I had went off to my room without making my presence known. It only made sense that they would talk about me. It was nice to know that my brother was on my side.

I had to smile at that. But then I remembered the look in my brother's eyes right before he had left here. Would he even listen to me?

I knew I had to give it a try.

"Thanks, Dad."

"I'll talk to you later Alan," he told me and then the screen went blank. I stood up from the chair and headed slowly down the access corridor. I had no clue as to what I was going to say to my brother but I knew putting it off would only make things worse.


	10. Finals

AN: The quote that starts this chapter is from the pool scene at the end of the movie now whether it was actually John that said it I'm not positive but to me it sounded like John and for this story it is. Thank-you to all my reviewers for making this story fun to write and for your wonderful reviews. This will be the last chapter for this story and I hope you all enjoy it.

bograt- thanks for reviewing chapter 8. I didn't have your review when I posted chapter 9. Glad you enjoyed it.

Devlinn Reiko-sama - glad your feeling better and got a chance to catch up with the story. Thanks for the review.

ladc- I'm glad I wasn't the only one who notice Jeff looking to John in the movie. I thought that was an interesting thing they did in the movie and it just jumped out for me. Thanks for pointing out those mistakes and I did go back and fix them. To be honest, I'm surprised this is the first time the misspelling of Gordon's name got passed me as I'm always going back and fixing it. I think I might subconsciously have something against his character.

Thunderbirdgirl - thanks! I hope you like the ending.

May Portland - was Scott grumpy. Oh well! Truth is I just don't like that character but I figured he would be a good one to have a POV from in that situation. His grumpiness is probably just a manifestation of the author's dislike for him. Glad you enjoyed chapter 9 and the way I dealt with everything (it was hard not to make it predictable and make the story make sense).

Marblez - cliffhangers are fun! (As long as you're the author). Here's your apologetic conversation. Hope it was worth the wait. As for watching T-bird 5 explode in slow motion that's a scene I haven't yet but I'll have to take a look at it!

Sarah - thanks!

AngelMouse 5 - yeah, I guess alan getting set up was predictable but I thought a natural flow for the story. I'm glad you thought it was well done. I'm glad you like the background info on Gordon. Like I said I'm kind of staying with movie-verse and from what I found all the Tracy boys are suppose to be quite younger than in the series - Gordon 18 and then the others each two years apart, 20, 22, 24. I thought the NASA bit kind of fit with Gordon being with Thunderbird 3. Thanks for commenting on that I was wondering how people would take it.

Andrewjameswilliams - here is what Alan has to say to John. Thanks for the support throughout the whole story.

Queen of the Elven City - actually I wasn't laughing until you told me to stop laughing! Nice idea for John and his hurt wrist but as you'll see its not accurate. Thanks for putting me on your favorites list. I'm flattered!

Laura B - thanks for the review. I like getting them even if its only one word. Its nice to know people are actually reading.

Pheonix - glad you liked chapter 9. Thanks for reviewing!

Moonlightbear- well here's the continuation of the little cliff hangar.

Kitkat Tictac - I think of you as my cheerleader - short, sweet, and motivating reviews. Thanks for taking the time for even short reviews.

Alan's POV:

"_That's my boy, Alan! That's my brother!"_

I'm not sure where the memory of those words came from but that had been what John had said to me after Dad had given Fermat, Tin-tin and I our IR pins. I had heard those words even as Virgil and Scott had tossed me in the pool. I hadn't really thought about it then or anytime afterwards until now. That was starting to seem like such a long time ago.

As the door to the sleeping quarters slid opened at my approach, I saw John sitting on his bed. His head was bent down, as he tried to wrap an ace bandage around his left wrist.

I stood there for a moment, not sure of what to say. What did you say to someone that you had just yelled that you hated them?

I saw John reach up and wipe his cheek. I realized then that my brother was crying. I don't remember ever having seen any of my brother's cry, although I'm sure they had when Mom had died, let alone been the cause of those tears.

I walked over and knelt down in front of him. I still wasn't sure what to say. Wasn't sure there was anything I could say.

Wordlessly I took the ace bandage from him and finished wrapping the wrist for him, trying desperately to find something to say to him.

"John I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said. I wasn't thinking when I said it," I finally said the words tumbling out.

"Alan I was only trying to help. Trying to get you to see exactly what your are capable of."

"I know," I said moving to sit on the bed beside him. "If I would have just told you what was going on when you asked then none of this would have happened but I was scared."

"Scared of what?" John asked me. I tried to think of how to answer that question. "Scared of not being believed?" John ventured when I didn't answer.

"Scared of you," I told him finally admitting to someone my the one fear I had since I was told I had to come up here. "You scare me John. I've never had any idea where I stand with you. The others I know love to tease me, give me a hard time. When I mess up, I know I'm never going to hear the end of it. Like if they were to find out about my less than stellar grades at school, they'd have a field day with it but I didn't know what you would do."

"It was my idea for you to come up here this week Alan." John said. I looked over at him in surprised. I had figured he got stuck with me. That my Dad was really just trying to get me away from the island. "I hardly ever see you between me being up here and you being away at school. I'm not there to run interference with Dad for you like I did with the others."

"Even Scott?"

"Especially Scott," John told me with a smile. "Alan, you're so much like Scott it's scary. The attitude, the thirst for adventure, and the dislike of school. Scott's lucky if he brought home one A his entire life. Scott sees that's too. I think that's why he gives you a harder time than he did the others."

It was a relief to hear that. It was nice to know that I wasn't the odd ball of the family. The only one who didn't get decent grades. That I was a lot like the older brother that I admired so much.

"Okay, so that explains why you didn't want to be up here with me but what's with this disinterest in the Thunderbirds all of a sudden."

"What do you do read minds too?" I asked him looking over at him in surprise. He seemed to know me so well. After everything that had just taken place I knew I would tell him about my fears and I already felt relief just having the opportunity to tell someone about what I had been feeling this past week.

"No just people," he said with a smile and then waited for an answer to the previously asked question.

"I guess it started on the way up here," I told him. "When Gordon was docking I guess it really dawned on me how dangerous this all is. How one little mistake could be disastrous. I never thought about that before. To me it was all just cool rockets and neat adventures. Ever since then what Scott said when I came home for spring break has been haunting me. I guess part of me started thinking he was right, after all I don't exactly have the best track record. I've broken countless of windows, wrecked a bike and damaged the headmasters car in the process, blew up a school . . ."

"Just the chemistry lab," John said interrupting me.

"Might as well have been the whole school," I said. "John, what if I make a mistake on a mission and someone gets hurts or worse."

"Alan your not alone with that fear. Everyone of us lives with that fear everyday. Its part of what we do Alan," John told me. "But that's what all of the training is for. We train so that we know what to do and we look out for each other. And we all makes mistakes. It's a part of life. Its what makes us human."

"I'm not sure I can do it."

"You can Alan. You've done it twice without training,"

"But the second time just now wasn't real . . ."

"That doesn't matter Alan. You thought it was real and you handled it well. If it had been real, everyone would have come home and that's what matters. Just think of what you'll be capable of when you've had all the training the rest of us have had."

"And if I decide not to," I ventured, "will you be disappointed in me?"

"You've never once in your life disappointed me Alan," John told me and I knew without a doubt that he meant it.

"I love you John," I said throwing my arms around him.

"I love you too," I heard him say softly as he returned my embrace.

"How bad is your wrist?" I asked him pulling away from him.

"I'll be fine. I think its just a sprain," he replied. "I guess there is one thing that I didn't train well enough for."

"What's that?" I asked him.

"How to take a fall."

I couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey John, I have a favor to ask you."

"What is it?"

"I still have some finals to take next week, and I have no clue what I'm doing in math."

"I thought you said you were fine when I offered help earlier."

"Yeah, well I was showing off another wonderful trait I can blame Scott for - stubborness."

"He also can't do math to save his life, so your in good company Alan," John told me. "Where's your book."

"I think in the control room."

"Why don't you go get it and meet me in the kitchen and we'll see what we can do."

"Thanks John," I told him as we both stood up.

Jeff's POV:

"Docking complete," I heard Gordon announce even as I heard the tell tale sound of the connection being made between Thunderbirds 3 and 5 late Friday night. "I bet Alan is waiting at the airlock for us," Gordon said getting out of his seat as we had things to unload. We were using this run to pick up Alan as a supply run too which meant less things we would need to transfer at the normal personnel transfer the following week.

"Don't count on it," I told him with a smile. I had talked to both Alan and John since the Tuesday afternoon incident and knew for a fact that things had calm down up here.

"We were suppose to come get him this morning and then that mission delayed us. He'll be itching to get out of here."

"We'll see," I said as we waited for the airlock to pressurize.

The door opened and Gordon and I walked from Thunderbird 3 to Thunderbird 5. As I thought, Alan was not at the airlock waiting for us. In fact, nobody was in sight.

"John, Alan," I called out my voice echoing against the station walls.

"We're in the kitchen," I heard John's voice call back.

Gordon and I madeour way to the station's small kitchen to find both of them sitting at the table. Alan had his history book open and John was reading something, pen in hand.

"Alan's actually doing school work," Gordon said incredulously from behind me. I shot a look over my shoulder at him. "What I'm surprised. You usually have to twist his arm to get him to do his school work."

"Is your stuff packed Alan?" I asked not commenting on Gordon's last comment.

"Except for this stuff, yeah," Alan said referring to the school things he had out on the table.

"Well, Gordon and I are going to unload the stuff from Thunderbird 3 and then I want to get going."

"I'll come help," Alan said closing the history book and sliding it into his backpack. "I need a break."

I nodded and looked from Alan to John.

John glanced up from the paper he was reading.

"Sorry, I need to finish proofing Alan's paper so he can make the corrections before going back to school Monday."

"Okay," I said. "Come on you two. Let's get started."

Alan and Gordon both headed toward Thunderbird 3 side by side already teasing one another. I was about to follow when John spoke up.

"Dad, you might want to let those two go into the cargo bay first," John said looking up from the paper.

"What did you do?" I asked but John just shrugged his shoulders. I guess I was about to find out.

I went to Thunderbird 3 and grabbed one of the containers to transfer to Thunderbird 5. My two sons and I madeour way to the cargo bay. Remembering John's words I lagged a little bit behind Alan and Gordon who were walking side by side down the wide corridor. As the two walked through the doorway to the cargo bay I saw a cascade of water fall down.

"Alan," Gordon yelled in surprise as if it wasn't a prank that Gordon had done himself then it was usually Alan.

"It wasn't me," Alan said laughing which got him a disbelieving look from Gordon. "If I knew about it I wouldn't have volunteered to help let alone walk through the door first. I guess John's getting back at me for all the pranks I pulled on him."

"He's never retaliated against me," Gordon said.

"You've never been worth it," I heard John call from behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see him looking through the doorway of the kitchen.

"Come on boys, lets get this done and make sure you dry off those containers and I'll clean up the floor," I told them laughing. After everything John had taken from Alan he deserved a little revenge of his own.

Alan's POV:

"So Alan, h-h-how do you th-th-ink you did?" Fermat asked me as we packed our stuff up Thursday afternoon. We had taken our last final that morning and were now packing to go home. Someone would be here after dinner tonight for us.

"I don't know Fermat," I told him honestly. I had feeling that once my Dad received my report card next week my summer vacation might get cut short. "I can honestly say that I tried my best but it might have been just a little too late."

I saw Fermat nod as we continued to pack. A few minutes later I heard a knock at the door. Sitting the shirt I had in my hand down in the suitcase I went to the door. I opened it to find Mrs. Madison standing there.

"Mrs. Madison hi," I said quickly surprised to see her. "What can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to stop by and give you this before you left for the summer," she said handing me a paper. "The grade in red is your test grade and the one in green is the final grade for the course."

I took the paper from her and glanced down at it. I saw an 88 in red, which meant I had come up short with scoring an A on the test. I had failed science. Then I took in the grade in green. It was a C-. I looked up at my teacher and saw a smile on her face. She must have seen the questioning look on my face because she spoke before I had a chance to say anything.

"I know I said you had to score an A on the final for me to pass you but you did come close and the extra credit paper you submitted was exceptional and beyond what I had in mind when I gave you that assignment. When your brother John contacted me about having you redo the experiment and doing the paper on that I thought it was just a bit too much to ask of a ninth grader but given what you had done I agreed to it."

"Thank-you, Mrs. Madison," I said still shocked that I had actually passed science.

"There's nothing to thank me for. You earned that C Alan although I also know your capable of doing better, that 88 on the final shows me that. I expect to hear your doing much better in your classes next year Alan."

"Yes, Mrs. Madison."

"Oh, and Mr. Marshall wants to see you in his office before you leave. He has the rest of your grades for you. He thought making you wait until next week would be unfair under the circumstances."

"Okay," I said as she headed down the hallway and out of the dorms.

I closed the door and turned to go back to my packing. As I turned around I saw Fermat standing by his bed looking at me expectantly.

"I passed science," I told him ecstatically, holding up the paper.

"That's g-g-great, Alan," he told me.

After dinner Fermat and I started dragging our stuff out to the front of the dorms. My father should be arriving shortly to pick us up. I knew from my conversation with the headmaster that Dad already knew my grades as Mr. Marshall had contacted him.

Fermat and I were sitting on the front steps in front of our stuff talking when I heard a familiar but unexpected voice.

"You two ready to go home?"

I looked up to see John standing at the bottom of the stairs. His blonde hair back to the normal color with no trace of orange in it.

"John!" I said in surprised rushing down the steps and giving him a hug. "I didn't think you would be back until tomorrow."

"I convinced Scott to switch with me early," he told me. "So how did you do? Dad wouldn't tell me before I left."

I looked down at the sidewalk trying not to smile. "I passed," I said calmly. It took a moment for my words to register but then John was hugging me again.

"That's great Alan! I knew you could do it."

"Yeah, thanks to you," I told him. I had no doubt that if it hadn't been for John I would be spending summer in a classroom rather than on Tracy Island.

"I didn't do anything Alan. You passed because of the hard work you put into it."

"Which I wouldn't have done if you hadn't made me believe that I was capable of it. Face it John, you're the reason Tracy Island is going to be stuck with me all summer."

"I think I can deal with that," he told me messing up my hair. "Now, how about we get this stuff packed and head home. We have some money to collect."

I looked up at him wondering what he had meant by that.

"Scott, Virgil, and Gordon were all taking bets as to how many classes you would failed so I decided to get into it. I told them you wouldn't fail any of them. I figured you and I could split the money," he said putting his arm around my shoulders and leading me up to where Fermat stood with our stuff.

What can I say? It felt good to know that at least one of my brothers was on my side. I couldn't believe that I had ever been afraid of him.

As for the others, well Scott was safe for now. It would be kind of hard to get at him up in Thunderbird 5. However, I planned on spending the trip home thinking of a way to get back at Virgil and Gordon for betting against me.


End file.
